THIS  VOLUME 

Us  Be&tcatefc 

TO 

THE  MEMORY  OF  MY  ESTEEMED  FRIEND 
THE   LATE 

ADMIRAL  C.  R.  P.  RODGERS 

WHOSE  CONGENIAL  COMPANIONSHIP  REMAINS 

ONE  OF  THE  PLEASANTEST  MEMORIES 

OF  MY  LIFE 


PKEFACE 


HAVING  read  with  great  interest  the  Biography  of 
Charles  Biddle,  edited  by  Mr.  Henry  Biddle,  of  Phila 
delphia,  and  having  had  occasion  to  write  to  the  latter 
concerning  some  matters  about  which  I  happened  to 
know  he  was  well  informed,  I  referred  to  the  work 
above  mentioned,  and  told  him  how  much  genuine 
pleasure  the  perusal  of  its  pages  had  afforded  me.  In 
his  reply,  after  most  kindly  giving  me  the  information 
which  I  desired,  he  said :  "  As  you  have  probably  your 
self  been  so  much  around  the  world,  you  ought  to  leave 
some  record  of  your  travels  and  adventures,  which  I 
doubt  not  would  be  very  entertaining  and  interesting." 

Such  an  idea  had  never  occurred  to  me  before  this 
suggestion ;  but  when  I  reflected  that  I  had  served 
between  fifty  and  sixty  years  in  the  Navy  of  the  United 
States — that  I  had  been  Commander -in -Chief  of  the 
European  Station,  Superintendent  of  the  Naval  Observa 
tory,  Chief  of  Staff  to  commanding  officers  on  several 
different  occasions,  President  of  the  International  Marine 
Conference,  member  of  the  International  Meridian  Con 
ference,  had  served  in  two  wars,  had  roamed  about  the 
globe  since  I  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  met  many 
distinguished  and  interesting  people — I  concluded  that 
there  might  be  some  incidents  in  the  experiences  of  all 


PREFACE 

those  years  that  would  make  it  worth  while  to  commit 
them  to  writing. 

When  first  I  undertook  what  has  been  to  me  a  most 
agreeable  recreation,  I  was  not  at  all  sure  that  I  ever 
should  publish  this  narrative,  but  was  satisfied  that  it 
would,  at  all  events,  make  interesting  reading  for  the 
members  of  my  family,  even  if  it  never  went  beyond 
the  manuscript. 

The  narrative  contains  the  names  of  the  following 
persons,  with  many  of  whom  I  have  been  intimately 
associated,  and  others  I  have  known  only  casually : 

Admiral  Farragut ;  Admiral  Porter ;  Admiral  Worden; 
Admiral  Dewey ;  Admiral  Sampson ;  Admiral  Luce ; 
Lord  Alcester ;  Admiral  Denrnan,  R.N.;  Admiral  Kaz- 
nakoff,  Kussian  Navy ;  Yice- Admiral  Sir  Yelverton  Has 
tings,  R.K;  Yice -Admiral  du  Petit -Thouars;  Rear- 
Admiral  Bowden- Smith,  R.N. ;  Rear -Admiral  Sir 
George  Nares,  R.N. ;  Commodore  T.  ap  Catesby  Jones ; 
Captain  Mahan;  Captain  Sigsbee ;  ex-Secretary  W.  E. 
Chandler;  President  Arthur;  President  Cleveland; 
President  McKinley ;  Pope  Pius  IX. ;  Pope  Leo  XIII. ; 
the  Emperor  Alexander  II.,  of  Russia ;  the  Emperor 
Alexander  III.  and  the  Empress  Dagmar ;  the  Emperor 
of  Brazil ;  the  King  of  Portugal ;  King  Oscar,  of  Sweden, 
and  Queen ;  King  Christian,  of  Denmark,  and  Queen ; 
the  King  and  Queen  of  Greece  and  the  Royal  family ; 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  Abdul  Hamid ;  the  Khedive  of 
Egypt ;  the  King  of  Hawaii,  Kamehameha  Y. ;  Queen 
Emma,  Queen  Dowager  of  Hawaii;  Liliuokalani,  late 
Queen  of  Hawaii ;  Frederick,  Prince  Royal  of  Prussia, 
afterwards  German  Emperor,  and  his  wife ;  the  Duke 
and  Duchess  of  Edinburgh ;  the  Duke  of  Connaught ; 
Lord  Lytton ;  Sir  Edward  Thornton ;  Sir  John  Adye, 
Governor  of  Gibraltar;  Sir  Lintorn  Simmons,  Governor 

vi 


PREFACE 

of  Malta ;  Sir  Charles  Hall ;  Secretary  Elaine ;  Mr.  E.  J. 
Phelps,  Minister  to  Great  Britain ;  Mr.  John  Lee  Car 
roll,  ex -Governor  of  Maryland;  Mr.  David  A.  Wells; 
Mr.  John  C.  Eopes ;  members  of  the  Adams  family ; 
members  of  the  McLane  family,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

S.  R.  FEANKLIN, 

Rear-Admiral,  V.  S.  Navy. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

Ancestry— New  York  in  the  Early  Days  of  the  Republic— Recep 
tion  of  President  Washington— Old  Merchants  of  New  York 
— Lincoln  and  Stanton 1 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Rear- Admiral  as  Midshipman — Naval  Conditions  Half  a  Cen 
tury  Ago— A  Training-Ship  in  New  York— Beginning  of  Sea 
Duties— The  Frigate  United  States  and  Her  Officers 13 


CHAPTER  III 

The  First  Cruise— Madeira  and  Rio— Manners  on  Board  Ship- 
Improvement  in  the  Service — Boatswains  and  Gunners — Brit 
ish  and  American  Ships — Uniforms — A  Gallant  French  Sea 
man.  .  25 


CHAPTER  IV 

Dom  Pedro— Duelling  in  the  Navy — Around  the  Horn — In  Val 
paraiso  —  Callao  and  Lima  —  Sailors'  Tricks  —  A  Conquest  of 
California. .  ,  38 


CHAPTER  V 

Winter  in  Monterey — Father  Junipero— At  the  Sandwich  Islands 
— Trip  to  Mauna  Loa— Lively  Times  in  Honolulu 52 

ix 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  VI 

PAGE 

The  Marquesas  and  Tahiti— Salute  Stories— Herman  Melville- 
Flogging  in  the  Navy  —  Change  of  Commodores — A  Coast 
Cruise — Idle  in  Callao — A  New  Mess — Opera  in  South  Amer 
ica — Commodore  Sloat— The  Levant's  Company 61 

CHAPTER  VII 

In  Panama — A  Nicaraguan  Journey— In  the  City  of  Leon — Be 
ginnings  of  the  War  with  Mexico— Fremont  and  Kit  Carson — 
Another  Capture  of  Monterey — Brazilian  Midshipmen — Stay 
at  Rio — Home  Again 74 

CHAPTER  VIII 

At  the  Naval  School— Life  at  Annapolis  Fifty  Years  Since— After- 
Fortunes  of  the  Class —  "  Reform  Banquets  "  —  Coast-Survey 
Service — Washington  Society 87 

CHAPTER  IX 

On  Foreign  Service  — The  Spragues  of  Gibraltar— Commodore 
Morgan — Mess  of  His  Flag-ship— Winter  Quarters— On  Leave 
in  Rome— Early  Impressions 100 

CHAPTER  X 

In  the  Adriatic — A  Royal  Visit — Fun  at  Spezzia — Leghorn  and 
Florence— Naples  under  Bomba— Balls  at  the  Academy— The 
Sa|u  Carlo — Pompeii  and  Vesuvius — A  Mournful  Accident. . .  Ill 

CHAPTER  XI 

Baths  of  Lucca— Pedestrian  Efforts— The  Store-keeper  at  Spez 
zia — Return  to  Naples — A  Promotion — Louis  Kossuth — Aus 
trian  Rule — Venice,  and  Porpora's  Theatre — End  of  the  Cruise .  123 

CHAPTER  XII 

Deep-Sea  Soundings  —  An  Abortive  Cruise  —  The  Dolphin  in  a 
Hurricane — In  Peril  from  Water  and  Fire — At  Rest  in  Lisbon 
— Coast  Survey— In  Annapolis  as  Professor— Captain  Golds- 
borough— A  Practice  Cruise— White  Sulphur  Springs 134 

x 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  XIII 

PAGE 

In  the  South  Atlantic— Lieutenant  Rodgers — "Sandy  Welsh" — 
In  Rio  Again— Bahia — A  Slave-Trader's  Palace— Montevideo — 
Agreeable  Society— Paraguay  and  Its  Dictator— Buenos  Ayres 
—End  of  the  Cruise 149 

CHAPTER  XIV 

"Ordnance  Duty"— The  War  Cloud— Friendships  Broken— On 
the  Macedonian — Key  West  and  Pensacola — War-Time — The 
Privateer  Sumter — La  Guayra  and  Caraccas — In  Chase  of  the 
Slimier— Home  Again 164 

CHAPTER  XV 

In  Hampton  Roads— Raid  of  the  Merrimac— Destruction  of  the 
Congress  and  the  Cumberland — The  Monitor  Appears — Fight 
of  the  Ironclads — On  the  Dacotali — End  of  the  Merrimac — With 
Farragut  at  New  Orleans — First  Command  on  the  Aroostook 
— An  Accident  at  Washington 176 

CHAPTER  XVI 

With  Farragut  in  the  Gulf— A  Year  of  Blockade— Fleet  Captain 
at  New  Orleans — Mobile — A  Night  Adventure — A  Council  of 
War— Entry  into  Mobile— Return  to  the  North 190 

CHAPTER  XVII 

A  Pacific  Command — Life  at  Mare  Island — An  Inland  Expedi 
tion — In  the  Yosemite  Valley — To  Esquimault  on  Cable  Ser 
vice—Admiral  Denman— Excursion  in  Washington  Territory 
— Up  Fraser  River 202 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

California  Again  — Promoted  Commander  — Duck-shooting— In 
Command  of  the  Mo7iica?i—To  Siberia  After  an  Eclipse- 
Difficult  Navigation  —  A  Bidarca  —  In  Plover  Bay  —  The 

Eclipse— The  Tchuktches  of  Siberia 214 

xi 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  XIX 

PAGE 

In  Honolulu  —  A  Gay  Season  —  Queen  Liliuokalani  —  The  Mohi 
can  Ball  —  Eastern  Duty — Promoted  Captain — In  Command 
of  the  Wabash — Key  West  Rendezvous — Captain  of  the  Frank- 
lin — On  the  European  Station — A  Mistaken  Salute— Gathering 
at  Carthagena — Train-Robbers — In  the  Grecian  Archipelago. .  225 

CHAPTER  XX 

Port  Mahon — A  Negro  Consul — In  Crete — Admiral  Worden — 
The  King  of  Portugal  —  A  Northern  Cruise — Royal  Dinners 
— Unwonted  Honors  to  Worden — Berlin  and  Copenhagen — 
The  Charms  of  Stockholm — A  Russian  Naval  Review — Festiv 
ities  at  St.  Petersburg 238 

CHAPTER  XXI 

In  the  Baltic— Reception  at  Kiel — In  English  Waters — Old  Haunts 
in  London — Villefranche — Gaycty  in  the  Riviera — Americans 
at  Nice— Wedding  on  the  Ship 253 

CHAPTER  XXII 

J.  A.  MacGahan — In  Lisbon —The  Channel  Fleet — Lord  Lytton — 
A  Country  Visit — Captain  Mahan — Admiral  Luce — Return  to 
the  Mediterranean— On  Leave  in  Paris — A  Sudden  Recall — 
In  Hurry  to  the  East 265 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

Life  in  Smyrna— At  Villefranche— Mayoral  Receptions— Monte 
Carlo— After  "Boss"  Tweed— Return  Home— An  Ugly  Time 
on  the  Franklin— Origin  of  a  True  Story — "Ben"  and  the 
"Meadow-larks" 276 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

Promoted  Commodore — The  West  Point  Board  of  Visitors— Ap 
pointment  of  Cadets— Life  in  Washington— Observatory  Man 
agement — In  Command  of  the  European  Station — Promoted 

Rear- Admiral 289 

xii 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  XXV 

PAGE 

On  the  Flag-ship  Pensacola — At  Work  on  a  Derelict— Toboggan 
ing  in  Madeira — Festivities  at  Gibraltar  and  Cherbourg— Fatal 
Balloon  Experiment — Copenhagen  and  Stockholm — A  Royal 
Visit — Dinner  at  the  Palace — Mormon  Propaganda — The  Amer 
ican  Minister's  Feast — American  Women  Abroad 293 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

In  English  Waters — Mr.  Phelps  on  Board — Among  the  Docks — 
A  Southampton  Banquet — Boar  Hunting  at  Tangier — Changes 
at  Nice  —  A  Christmas  Dinner  —  American  Diplomatists  —  An 
Extraordinary  Request — Interview  with  the  Pope — Americans 
in  Rome— The  Highlands  of  Sicily 313 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

At  Malta— Royal  Dukes  in  Port— The  Duke  of  Edinburgh's  Ball 
and  Dinner — Sir  Lintorn  Simmons— Admiral  Ward — An  Ex 
cellent  Consul— At  Alexandria— Reception  by  the  Khedive — 
The  Pyramids  —  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem  —  American  College  at 
Beirut 329 

CHAPTER   XXVIII 

Damascus — Entrance  to  the  City — Shops  and  Churches — The  Pub 
lic  Gardens — Scriptural  Scenes — Damascene  Houses — Constan 
tinople — "Sunset"  Cox — Courtesy  from  the  Sultan — The  Sa- 
laamlic — Audience  at  the  Sublime  Porte — Social  Enjoyments 
— The  Charms  of  Prinkapo  —  An  American  Prima  Donna  — 
Dining  at  the  Palace 341 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

Athens  and  the  Greek  Islands— Sea-Bathing  at  Leghorn— Amer 
icans  in  Italy — Society  in  Genoa — Eastward  Again — Winter 
in  Alexandria— Marvels  of  Our  Consular  System — An  Agree 
able  Visit— Mrs.  Franklin  at  Athens— Royal  Hospitalities- 
Visit  of  the  King  and  Queen— Domestic  Dinner  at  the  Pal 
ace 360 

xiii 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  XXX 

PACK 

A  Run  through  Italy— Trieste,Venice,  and  Bologna— Life  at  Beau- 
lieu — Cadets  in  a  Collision — The  Baths  of  Lucca— Country 
Excursions — Retirement  from  Active  Service — Ceremonies  of 
Farewell— Home  Again 375 

CHAPTER  XXXI 

At  Home  in  Washington — Admiral  Raymond  Rodgers — A  Club 
Coterie — Patriotic  Societies — The  Memorial  Society  of  Wash 
ington — Suggestions  and  Plans — International  Marine  Confer 
ence — The  Delegates  and  their  Work — Courtesies  to  their  Pres- 
Ment — Notes  of  the  Proceedings 384 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


REAR-ADMIRAL  S.  R.  FRANKLIN Frontispiece 

U.  S.  STEAM  FRIGATE  FRANKLIN Facing  p.  232 

U.   S.  STEAM  FRIGATE    PENSACOLA "  300 


MEMORIES  OF  A  REAR-ADMIRAL 


CHAPTER  I 

Ancestry— New  York  in  the  Early  Days  of  the  Republic— Reception 
of  President  Washington— Old  Merchants  of  New  York— Lincoln 
and  Stanton. 

MY  great-grandfather,  Thomas  Franklin,  was  one  of 
several  brothers,'  members  of  an  old  Quaker  family 
which  resided  in  the  City  of  New  York  during  the 
days  of  the  Eevolution.  Their  ancestors  settled  in  and 
about  Flushing,  Long  Island,  many  years  before  that 
period.  "Walter  Franklin,  brother  of  Thomas,  and  my 
ancestral  uncle,  seems  to  have  been  the  most  prosperous 
of  the  brothers.  Mrs.  Lamb,  in  her  history  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  speaks  of  him  as  a  merchant  engaged  in 
the  Eastern  trade — said  to  have  had  as  much  wealth  in 
Eussia  as  in  America.  He  built  and  occupied  what  was 
considered  in  those  days  perhaps  the  finest  house  in  New 
York.  It  stood  on  what  is  now  Franklin  Square,  and 
this  Square,  named  for  him,  is  said  to  have  been  the 
site  of  his  gardens. 

Two  of  Walter  Franklin's  daughters  married  broth 
ers —  De  Witt  Clinton  and  George  Clinton.  When 
General  Washington  went  to  New  York  to  be  inau 
gurated  as  the  first  President  of  the  United  States,  the 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

house  of  Walter  Franklin  was  selected  for  the  Presi 
dential  Mansion,  and  was  occupied  as  such  for  about  a 
year.  The  accompanying  letters  will  be  found  interest 
ing  as  describing  the  preparations  made  to  place  the 
house  in  a  suitable  condition  to  receive  His  Excellency, 
and  also  to  show  how  he  was  met  by  the  citizens  of 
New  York  in  the  simple  methods  of  the  early  days  of 
the  Kepublic. 

Kitty  F.  Wistar,  to  whom  the  following  letter  was 
addressed,  was  born  in  1768,  the  third  child  of  Caspar 
"VVistar  and  Mary  Franklin,  who  was  the  fourth  daughter 
of  Thomas  Franklin  (born  January  20,  1703),  who  mar 
ried  Mary  Pearsall  in  1726.  The  Sarah  Kobinson  who 
wrote  the  letter  was  a  Franklin  who  married  Rowland 
Robinson,  of  the  firm  of  Franklin  &  Co.,  in  the  Eastern 
trade. 

"NEW  YORK,  SQthofthe  Fourth  Month,  1789. 

"I  feel  exceedingly  mortified  and  hurt,  my  dear  cousin,  that  so 
many  of  my  letters  to  thee  have  been  miscarried.  I  have  certainly 
written  as  many  as  half  a  dozen  since  thee  left  New  York,  although 
thou  acknowledgest  the  receipt  of  but  one,  which  almost  discourages 
me  from  making  another  attempt,  so  uncertain  is  it  whether  it  will 
ever  reach  Brandywine,  but  I  cannot  entirely  give  it  up,  as  I  am  as 
sured  they  afford  you  pleasure.  I  received  thine  of  the  4th,  and  was 
pleased  to  hear  you  are  well,  and  that  my  dear  uncle  and  aunt  talked 
of  making  a  New  York  visit.  I  shall  wish  for  a  wedding  in  the 
family  often,  if  it  will  bring  such  good  strangers  ;  so,  my  dear,  insist 
on  it,  and  do  not  let  them  disappoint  us ;  we  promise  ourselves  a  great 
enjoyment  in  their  company.  .  .  . 

"  Great  rejoicing  in  New  York  on  the  arrival  of  General  Washing 
ton  ;  an  elegant  Barge  decorated  with  an  awning  of  satin,  12  oarsmen 
dressed  in  white  frocks  and  blue  ribbons  went  down  to  E.  Town 
last  fourth  day  to  bring  him  up.  A  stage  was  erected  at  the  Coffee 
house  wharf,  covered  with  a  carpet  for  him  to  step  on,  where  a  com 
pany  of  Light  horse,  one  of  Artillery,  and  most  of  the  inhabitants 
were  waiting  to  receive  him  ;  they  paraded  through  Queen  street  in 
good  form,  while  the  music  of  the  drums  and  the  ringing  of  the  bells 


LETTER  TO  KITTY  F.  WISTAR 

were  enough  to  stun  one  with  the  noise.  Previous  to  his  coming 
Uncle  Walter's*  house  in  Cherry  street  was  taken  for  him,  and  every 
room  furnished  in  the  most  elegant  manner.  Aunt  Osgoodf  and  Lady 
Kitty  Duer  had  the  whole  management  of  it.  I  went  the  morning 
before  the  General's  arrival  to  take  a  look  at  it,  the  best  furniture  in 
every  room,  and  the  greatest  quantity  of  plate  and  China  I  ever  saw  ; 
the  whole  of  the  first  and  second  story  is  papered,  and  the  floors  cov 
ered  with  the  richest  kind  of  Turkey  and  Wilton  carpets.  The  house 
did  honour  to  my  aunts,  and  Lady  Kitty,  they  spared  no  pains  nor  ex 
pense  on  it.  Thou  must  know  that  Uncles  Osgood  and  Duer  were  ap 
pointed  to  procure  a  house  and  furnish  it,  accordingly  they  pitched 
on  their  wives  as  being  likely  to  do  better.  I  have  not  done  yet,  my 
dear.  Is  thee  not  almost  tired  ?  The  evening  after  his  Excellency's 
arrival  there  was  a  general  Illumination  took  place,  except  among 
friends  [Quakers]  and  those  styled  Anti  -  Federalist.  The  latter's 
windows  suffered  some,  thoti  may  imagine.  As  soon  as  the  General 
was  sworn  in,  a  grand  exhibition  of  fire-works  is  to  be  displayed,  which 
is  expected  to  be  to-morrow;  there  is  scarcely  anything  talked  about 
now  but  General  Washington  and  the  Palace,  and  of  little  else  have  I 
told  thee  yet,  tho'  have  spun  my  miserable  scrawl  already  to  a  great 
length ;  but  thou  requested  to  know  all  that  was  going  forward.  I 
have  just  heard  that  William  Titus,  of  Woodbury,  is  going  to  be 
married  to  a  sister  of  Uncle  Bowne,  mother  of  Thomas  Bowne,  who 
I  believe  thee  knows  ;  Eliza  Titus,  her  husband,  and  father,  and 
mother,  spent  the  evening  with  us  last  sixth  day.  Eliza  is  muck 
altered  since  I  saw  her,  is  much  thinner  and  plainer.  Marie  de 
Courcy,  too,  has  been  in  the  town  a  fortnight,  she  made  her  home  at 
Uncle  Osgood's,  but  was  a  great  deal  among  us  all ;  she  is  about  mak 
ing  a  little  tour  into  Connecticut,  on  a  visit  to  a  friend  Lucy  Ball,  with 
Joseph  Bull,  who  is  now  in  town.  Our  families  are  all  well,  Hetty 
is  still  with  us,  Rowland  and  the  girls'  love  to  you.  Accept  mine,  my 
dear  cousin,  and  write  soon,  to  thy  affectionate  cousin. 

"  SARAH  ROBINSON." 

"  Uncle  Walter"  Franklin  was  born  in  1727,  the  old 
est  child  of  Thomas  Franklin  and  Mary  Pearsall.  His 
house  was  between  Cherry  and  Queen  Streets  (now 

*  Walter  Franklin. 

f  The  widow  of  Walter  Franklin,  who  married  Dr.  Osgood.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Maria  Bowne. 

3 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Pearl  Street),  and  he  was  senior  partner  of  the  firm  of 
Franklin  &  Co. 

The  letter  addressed  to  Samuel  Rhoades  was  written 
by  the  grandparents  of  the  Kitty  Wistar  to  whom  the 
Sarah  Robinson  letter  is  addressed.  Their  son  Thomas, 
who  did  marry  Mary  Rhoades,  was  their  fourth  child, 
born  in  1734.  Thomas  Franklin  was  the  great-grand 
father  of  General  W.  B.  Franklin,  Admiral  S.  R.  Frank 
lin,  and  Colonel  Walter  S.  Franklin. 

"  NEW  YORK,  12  mo.,  20th,  1763. 
"  To  SAMUEL  RHOADES  &  WIFE  : 

"Dear  Friends, — As  our  son  Thomas  has  for  some  time  past  ac 
quainted  us  of  his  Love  and  Good  Esteem  for  your  daughter  Mary, 
and  we,  conceiving  a  good  opinion  of  her  and  family,  were  well  pleased 
with  his  choice ;  but  hearing  it  was  a  strait  with  you  to  part  with 
her  to  come  to  this  place,  we  could  but  sympathize  with  you  in  the 
affair,  so  were  silent  in  the  case  on  that  account.  However,  he  in 
forms  us  that  3rou  have  left  her  to  liberty,  and  she  has  turned  the 
scale  for  coming,  we  desire  it  will  be  made  easy  for  you,  and  hope 
we  shall  always  have  a  paternal  care  for  her  and  conclude  you  are 
sensible.  There  is  that  attractive  Power  of  Love  in  all  hearts  that 
can  make  one  in  the  best  part  if  adheared  to ;  if  this  should  be  the 
happy  case,  then  it  will  be  a  Great  Comfort  to  us  all.  Tho'  we  have 
thus  far  expressed  our  minds,  we  know  not  what  may  happen  between 
the  cup  and  the  lip,  as  the  saying  is,  but  shall  contentedly  submit  all 
to  the  Great  Director  of  all  Good,  and  subscribe  with  love  unfeigned 
to  you  and  to  your  Dear  Daughter  Mary  in  particular. 

(Signed),  "  THOMAS  FRANKLIN, 

"MARY  FRANKLIN." 

From  the  autobiography  of  Mary  Robinson  Hunter, 
a  daughter  of  Sarah  Franklin  and  William  T.  Robinson. 
Mr.  Hunter  was  or-  Minister  at  Rio  when  this  was 
written : 

<lRio  DE  JANEIRO,  6/A  December,  1845. 

"My  mother's  grandfather  on  her  father's  side  was  a  wealthy 
farmer  of  the  State  of  New  York,  born  of  an  English  father  and  a 
Dutch  mother.  They  had  a  large  family  of  sons,  of  whom  my  grand- 


LETTER    TO    THE    'FRANKLINS 

father  was  the  youngest,  and  two  daughters.  Of  five  sons  I  can 
speak,  having  known  them  all  as  a  child,  and  all  treating  me  with 
overweening  love  and  indulgence.  James,  the  eldest,  followed  the 
occupation  of  his  father,  and  inherited  the  homestead.  He  married 
a  lady  of  high  breeding,  who  used  to  come  down  from  the  country 
once  a  year  to  visit  the  families  of  her  husband's  brothers,  who 
were  settled  as  merchants,  three  in  New  York  and  one  in  Philadel 
phia.  I  well  remember  the  awe  her  presence  inspired  among  us  chil 
dren  ;  the  rustling  of  her  silk,  and  her  high-heeled  shoes  making  her 
figure  more  commanding,  and  the  reproach  her  never-ending  knitting 
cast  upon  us  idle  and  indulged  children. 

"  Walter,  John,  and  Samuel  resided  in  New  York.  They  inherited 
large  fortunes  from  their  parents,  which  they  put  into  trade,  and  the 
produce  of  China  and  other  countries  was  wafted  to  our  shores  in 
their  ships.  Walter  retired  with  an  immense  fortune  from  the  firm, 
lived  in  the  style  of  a  nobleman,  and  drove  an  elegant  chariot.  On 
an  excursion  to  Long  Island,  driving  by  a  country-house,  he  saw, 
milking  in  the  barn -yard,  where  thirty  cows  had  just  been  driven  in 
at  sunset,  a  beautiful  young  Quaker  girl.  He  stopped,  beckoned 
her,  and  asked  who  occupied  the  house.  With  great  simplicity,  and 
without  embarrassment,  she  replied,  '  My  father,  Daniel  Bowne. 
Wilt  thou  not  alight  and  take  tea  with  him  ?'  My  uncle  accepted 
the  invitation,  introduced  himself,  was  well  known  by  reputation.  He 
conversed  with  the  farmer  on  the  appearance  of  the  farm,  on  his  fine 
cows,  etc.,  but  not  a  word  about  the  fair  milk-maid.  Presently  the 
door  opened,  and  she  came  in  to  make  tea  for  the  'city  friend,'  when 
her  father  said,  '  Hannah,  this  is  friend  Walter  Franklin,  from  New 
York.'  She  blushed  deeply,  finding  he  made  no  allusion  to  having 
seen  her  before.  The  blush  heightened  her  loveliness.  She  had 
smoothed  her  hair,  and  a  fine  lawn  kerchief  covered  her  neck  and 
bosom.  After  three  visits  he  asked  her  in  marriage,  and  the  fair 
maid  was  seated  by  his  side  in  the  chariot,  on  her  way  to  take  pos 
session  as  mistress  of  the  most  elegant  house  in  the  city,  in  Cherry 
Street,  near  the  corner  of  Pearl.  She  had  a  numerous  family  of 
beautiful  daughters.  They  swerved  from  the  simplicity  of  Quaker 
ism,  and  became  worldly  and  fashionable  belles.  The  eldest,  Sally, 
married  a  very  wealthy  man  by  the  name  of  Norton,  I  believe  of 
English  birth,  who  was  heir  to  an  immense  fortune,  left  him  by  a 
Mr.  Lake,  who  lived  near  New  York.  The  second,  Maria,  was  the 
wife  of  De  Witt  Clinton.  The  third,  Hannah,  married  his  brother, 
George  Clinton.  They  all  had  children.  Their  mother  was  left  a 
widow  just  before  the  third  daughter  was  born  —  my  uncle  Walter 

5 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

dying,  and  leaving  a  rich  young  widow,  and  twenty  thousand  pounds 
to  each  of  his  daughters.  His  widow  afterwards  married  a  very  re 
spectable  Presbyterian  named  Osgood,  who  had  some  post  under 
Government— commissary  of  the  army  in  Washington's  time,  I  believe. 
She  had  a  number  of  children  by  Osgood.  The  eldest,  Martha,  mar 
ried  a  brother  of  the  famous  Genet.  My  uncle  Walter's  house  is  now 
the  Franklin  Bank,  named  after  its  builder  and  owner. 

"I  cannot  remember  the  maiden  name  of  my  uncle  John's  wife, 
for  it  is  of  him  I  am  now  speaking,  but  when  he  married  her  she 
was  a  widow  Townsend,  with  one  beautiful  daughter.  She  owned  and 
lived  in  a  house  at  the  lower  end  of  Cherry  Street.  Well  do  I  remem 
ber  the  delightful  parties  assembled  at  this  hospitable  board,  and  now 
and  then,  as  a  great  favor,  taking  turns  with  my  brothers  and  sisters 
in  going  with  my  parents  to  one  of  Uncle  John's  oyster  suppers.  He 
was  of  a  joyous,  happy  temper,  and  loved  to  tease  children.  He  used 
to  tell  me  how  he  pitied  me  for  being  so  homely,  all  in  good-humor 
and  irony,  but  it  would  wound  my  budding  vanity.  He  had  a  large 
family  of  sons  and  daughters,  all  plain  in  person.  His  son  Thomas 
is,  or  was,  well  known  in  New  York  as  an  active,  flourishing  man, 
where  his  sons  have  succeeded  him  —  Marius,  William,  and  some 
others,  now  on  the  stage  of  life.  My  uncle  Thomas  Franklin  [great- 
uncle]  settled  as  a  merchant  in  Philadelphia,  and  left  many  children. 
His  son  Walter  was  an  eminent  lawyer  in  that  city,  and  an  accom 
plished,  amiable  man.  Thus  I  have  given  an  outline  of  my  grand 
father's  brothers.  His  two  sisters  are  now  to  be  brought  forward. 
Sally,  the  eldest,  married  Caspar  Wistar,  of  Pennsylvania,  one  of 
nature's  noblemen — a  farmer  living  on  the  Brandywine,  of  German 
parentage,  as  his  name  designates.  He  lived  in  great  luxury  and  hos 
pitality,  and  had  several  children ;  his  eldest  daughter,  Sally,  married 
a  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  by  the  name  of  Pennock.  Another 
favorite  daughter,  highly  gifted  in  intellect,  married  late  in  life  a 
Mr.  Sharpies,  and  had  two  sons,  one  named  Caspar.  They  married, 
I  believe,  two  daughters  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  but  of  this  I  am  not 
quite  certain  ;  one,  I  know,  married  a  daughter  of  his.* 

"My  grandfather's  second  sister,  Mary,  married  a  Colonel  De 
Lancey,  of  French  extraction.  His  father,  I  believe,  came  from 
France.  I  remember  him  as  a  little  girl  ;  he  did  not  love  children, 
was  of  a  morose  disposition,  and  I  trembled  when  I  heard  him  ap- 

*  Caspar  Wistar  Sharpies  married  Elizabeth,  and  Abraham  Wistar  Shar 
pies  married  Anne,  both  daughters  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Ustick  Onderdonk, 
Bishop  of  Pennsylvania. — S.  R.  F. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  MY  ANCESTORS 

proach,  in  a  red  velvet  cap  and  brocade  dressing-gown  and  slippers, 
when  I  was  playing  about,  whilst  on  a  visit  to  my  aunt  on  Long 
Island.  They  had  only  one  child,  a  daughter,  beautiful  in  face  and 
person,  and  with  much  French  sprightliness  and  naivete.  She  mar 
ried,  at  thirty,  a  Mr.  Staples  of  New  York,  and  had,  like  her  mother, 
but  one  child,  a  daughter. 

"I  now  proceed  to  my  maternal  grandfather,  Samuel  Franklin. 
While  on  a  visit  to  his  brother  Thomas  in  Philadelphia,  he  became 
acquainted  with  and  married  Hester  Mitchell,  a  young  girl  of  an 
excellent  Quaker  family.  One  of  her  sisters  married  into  another 
Quaker  family,  named  Parish,  of  whom  Dr.  Parish,  so  justly  cele 
brated  as  a  skilful  physician  and  a  true  Christian,  is  a  member.  An 
other  sister  of  my  grandmother's  was  the  mother  of  a  large  family 
by  the  name  of  Marshall,  in  Philadelphia,  several  of  whom  are  cele 
brated  chemists  and  druggists. 

"My  grandfather  brought  his  wife  to  New  York,  and  bought  or 
built  what  was  then  thought  to  be  a  fine  house  in  Pearl  Street,  a  few 
doors  from  the  corner  of  Beekman  Street.  Here  his  children  were 
born.  Several  died  in  infancy ;  only  three  lived  to  grow  up.  My 
mother  was  the  eldest,  a  beautiful  brunette,  with  brilliant  eyes,  curl 
ing  hair,  tall  and  graceful  figure.  The  second,  Abraham,  married 
a  very  lovely  woman  named  Ann  Townsend,  by  whom  he  had  thir 
teen  children,  now  scattered  about  the  world.  The  youngest,  John, 
married  a  country  girl  of  Long  Island,  named  Charity  Cornell,  who 
was  a  good  wife  and  a  devoted  mother  to  a  large  family  of  children. 
Mary,  a  beautiful  girl,  and  said  to  resemble  me  in  a  striking  way, 
married  a  Mr.  Bond,  I  believe  of  Baltimore.  My  uncle  Abraham  died 
many  years  ago.  My  uncle  John  still  lives  in  New  York,  but  he  must 
be  more  than  seventy  years  of  age.  My  mother  grew  and  bloomed 
amidst  the  stirring  times  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  when  the  English 
were  in  possession  of  New  York." 

The  foregoing  letters  will  be  interesting  to  any  of  the 
Franklins,  and  those  bearing  other  names  who  come 
from  the  same  stock,  and  also,  it  may  be,  to  the  general 
reader,  as  depicting  to  some  extent  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  Colonial  period. 

My  grandfather  was  an  officer  of  the  Army,  and 
married  the  daughter  of  the  Colonel  of  his  regiment, 
Jonas  Simonds.  Colonel  Simonds  was  an  officer  of  the 

7 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Army  during  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  an 
original  member  of  the  Cincinnati.  My  brother,  General 
Franklin,  is  now  a  member  of  that  Society,  and  inherits 
through  my  grandmother,  Colonel  Simonds  having  left 
no  male  heirs. 

My  father  was  an  only  child.  He  was  a  law  student 
at  the  school  at  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  presided  over 
for  a  number  of  years  by  Judge  Gould  and  Judge  Reeve. 
Many  men  who  afterwards  became  distinguished  in  the 
political  history  of  the  country  received  their  educa 
tion  there  as  lawyers.  Among  others,  I  remember  that 
Calhoun  and  Clayton  were  likewise  students  there,  both 
prominent  Senators  in  their  day,  from  South  Carolina 
and  Delaware  respectively.  As  I  write  from  memory, 
many  incidents  of  my  life  are  so  vague  that  they  have 
passed  almost  entirely  out  of  my  mind,  which,  if  they 
were  recorded  here,  might  have  been  interesting  reading 
to  those  who  come  after  me.  These  memoirs,  therefore, 
must  be  taken  for  what  they  are  worth  —  a  somewhat 
fragmentary  narrative  of  my  recollection  of  persons, 
and  also  of  events,  many  of  which  occurred  years  and 
years  ago. 

My  father  married  about  the  time  he  completed  his 
studies  as  a  student  of  law  at  the  school  to  which  I  re 
ferred  above.  He  married  at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 
one.  The  object  of  his  choice  was  Sarah  Buel,  a  daugh 
ter  of  Dr.  Buel,  of  Litchfield.  She  became  the  mother 
of  six  children,  all  of  whom  lived  and  grew  up.  My 
father  was  not  destined  to  enjoy  his  family  very  long, 
for  he  was  attacked  with  a  malignant  fever,  and  died 
from  its  effects  when  he  was  only  thirty-eight  years  of 
age.  He  was  convalescent  when  Mr.  Buchanan,  after 
wards  President  of  the  United  States,  made  him  a  visit, 
and  we  thought  they  had  an  exciting  political  conversa- 

8 


MY    FATHER    AND    MOTHER 

tion  which  produced  a  relapse  from  which  he  never  ral 
lied.  He  was  a  man  in  the  fulness  of  health  and  vigor, 
possessed  of  a  splendid  constitution,  and  the  chances  were 
that  he  would  reach  a  mature  age ;  but  it  was  otherwise 
ordered,  and  he  died,  mourned  and  lamented  by  all  who 
knew  him.  He  was  an  able  and  most  popular  man,  be 
loved  by  every  one,  and,  had  he  lived,  I  believe  he  would 
have  reached  an  exalted  position  in  this  country.  My 
mother  was  thus  left  to  struggle  through  life  with  her 
six  children,  and  was  rewarded  for  her  love  for  them, 
and  for  her  devotion  to  their  interests,  by  living  to  see 
them  all  well  established  in  life.  She  died  full  of  years, 
beloved  by  all,  having  reached  the  ripe  old  age  of  eighty- 
four. 

My  father  died  in  1838.  My  elder  brother,  General 
Franklin,  was  sent  the  following  year  to  West  Point, 
where  he  was  graduated  four  years  later  at  the  head  of 
his  class.  He  was  placed  in  the  Corps  of  Topographical 
Engineers,  in  which  he  held  important  positions  of  trust 
and  responsibility  until  the  breaking -out  of  the  Civil 
War,  when  he  rose  rapidly  to  the  rank  of  Major-Gen 
eral  of  Volunteers,  commanded  a  corps  d'armee,  and, 
later,  the  left  Grand  Division  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  at  Fredericksburg.  These  facts  are  familiar  to 
students  of  the  history  of  the  Civil  War ;  but  still  I  feel 
that  this  is  not  an  unfitting  place  again  to  call  them  to 
mind.  I  purpose  to  relate  two  or  three  incidents  in  his 
career  which  might  be  termed  fragments  of  the  un 
written  history  of  the  War. 

The  first  of  these  was  told  to  me  at  Saratoga  by  General 
Slocum,  whom  I  had  known  as  a  general  office1"  under 
my  brother's  command  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
He  said  that  on  a  visit  to  Washington,  from  the  head 
quarters  of  the  Army,  he  had  a  conversation  with  Mr. 

9 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Lincoln  about  the  condition  of  affairs  there — this  was  at 
the  time  when  the  Army  was  suffering  from  the  incom- 
petency  of  its  leaders — he  said  to  Mr.  Lincoln  to  this  ef 
fect,  though  probably  not  in  the  same  language,  "  that 
we  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  who  have  assisted  in 
fighting  its  battles,  and  who  are  pretty  well  acquainted 
with  the  capacity  of  its  Generals,  are  satisfied  that  the 
proper  man  to  command  that  Army  is  General  Franklin." 
The  President  promptly  replied  to  this  effect :  "  I  know 
that  as  well  as  you  do,  General  Slocum,  but  it  is  more 
than  I  dare  to  do,  to  order  him  to  that  command."  This 
answer  explains  itself  when  it  is  known  that  General 
Franklin  was  always  a  constant  and  uncompromising 
Democrat. 

Another  incident  may  illustrate  the  animus  of  Mr. 
Stanton,  Secretary  of  War,  with  regard  to  General 
Franklin.  The  General  was  at  his  home,  slowly  con 
valescing  from  a  wound  which  he  had  received  in  the 
campaign  on  the  Red  River,  when  his  horse  was  killed 
from  under  him  by  the  same  bullet  which  disabled  him. 
At  the  time  to  which  I  refer,  General  Grant  was  with 
the  Army  in  front  of  Petersburg.  He  sent  to  Franklin 
to  come  to  him  at  his  headquarters,  to  consult  with  him 
with  a  view  of  giving  him  the  command  of  the  Army 
then  operating,  or  about  to  operate,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Shenandoah.  When  Grant  communicated  with  Stanton 
in  reference  to  the  matter,  he  found  him  so  much  prej 
udiced  against  Franklin  that  he  declined  to  accede  to 
his  request.  While  Franklin  was  on  his  way  back  from 
Grant's  Army  he  was  captured,  near  Baltimore,  by 
Harry  Gilmore,  but  made  his  escape  and  returned  to 
his  home.  Nothing  more  was  said  about  the  detail, 
and,  to  borrow  a  diplomatic  expression,  the  incident 
was  closed.  Sheridan  was  ordered  to  command  that 

10 


CAREEKS    OF    MY    BROTHERS 

Army,  and,  as  everybody  knows,  with  the  happiest  re 
sults. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  War,  my  brother  went  into 
business  with  the  Colt  Arms  works  at  Hartford,  Con 
necticut,  and  was  made  Yice-President  of  the  Company. 
For  the  past  sixteen  years  he  has  been  chosen  by  Con 
gress  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  volun 
teer  soldiers'  homes,  and  has  been  the  President  of  that 
body  for  the  same  length  of  time.  He  was  appointed 
by  Mr.  Cleveland  as  the  Commissioner  from  this  coun 
try  to  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1889.  It  might  be  inter 
esting  to  any  one  who  peruses  these  memoirs  to  know 
of  one  of  the  influences  which  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  President  in  making  this  appointment,  which,  I  will 
state  in  advance,  was  entirely  unsolicited  by  General 
Franklin.  It  was  related  to  me  by  Colonel  J.  Schuyler 
Crosby.  He  said  that  he  was  dining  with  Colonel 
Jerome  Bonaparte,  in  the  company  of  Mr.  Robert  Mc- 
Lane,  our  Minister  to  France,  and  that  in  the  course 
of  conversation  the  question  arose,  and  was  discussed 
among  them,  who  would  be  the  proper  person  to  repre 
sent  this  country  on  that  occasion.  Colonel  Crosby 
told  me  that  three  names  were  mentioned  —  General 
Franklin,  Admiral  Eaymond  Rodgers,  and  myself. 
The  consensus  of  opinion  was  in  favor  of  General 
Franklin,  for  Mr.  McLane  had  an  interview  with  the 
President  the  following  day,  the  result  of  which  was 
that  he  was  nominated,  and  confirmed  almost  immedi 
ately.  The  appointment  did  not  interfere  with  his  po 
sition  as  President  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  Board,  which 
he  continued  to  hold,  and,  as  I  have  stated,  still  holds 
at  the  present  time. 

My  only  surviving  brother  besides  the  General  is  Colo 
nel  Walter  S.  Franklin.    He  entered  the  Army  in  the 

11 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

early  part  of  the  War,  and  was  assigned  to  one  of  the 
new  three-battalion  regiments.  He  served  on  the  Staffs 
of  General  Sedgwick  and  General  Wright,  and  came 
out  of  the  War  a  Colonel.  He  was  afterwards  Com 
mander  of  the  Subdivision  of  Winchester,  and,  later, 
was  assigned  to  one  of  the  Western  Universities  as  an 
instructor  of  tactics.  Soon  afterwards  he  left  the  Army 
and  went  into  the  iron  business,  in  which  he  remained 
a  number  of  years.  Having  been  graduated  at  the  Sci 
entific  School  at  Harvard,  with  the  first  honors  of  his 
class,  he  was  appointed  by  President  Arthur  one  of 
the  United  States  Light  -  House  Board,  of  which  he  is 
now  the  senior  member.  He  is  also  President  of  the 
Baltimore  City  Street  Eailroad,  to  which  position  he 
was  elected  a  few  years  ago,  and  now  resides  in  Balti 
more. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Rear -Admiral  as  Midshipman  —  Naval  Conditions  Half  a  Cen 
tury  Ago  —  A  Training  -  Ship  in  New  York  —  Beginning  of  Sea 
Duties  —  The  Frigate  United  States  and  Her  Officers. 

I  WAS  appointed  an  acting  midshipman  in  the  Navy 
by  Secretary  Paulding,  on  the  18th  day  of  February,  1841. 
In  those  days  the  appointments  were  thus  made,  and,  if 
the  Commanding  officer  with  whom  an  acting  midship 
man  served  made  a  favorable  report  on  his  aptitude  for 
the  service  at  the  end  of  six  months,  a  warrant  was  given 
to  him  creating  him  a  midshipman.  He  was  then  what 
was  called  a  warrant  officer,  but  not  a  commissioned  offi 
cer — a  most  important  distinction  at  that  time,  for  there 
was  an  impassable  gulf  between  these  two  classes,  to 
which  all  can  testify  who  have  "gone  through  the  mill." 
The  warrant  man  was  often  made  to  feel  by  the  commis 
sion  man  that  he  was  not  only  an  inferior  officer,  but  an 
inferior  being  altogether.  My  home  at  that  time  was 
York,  Pennsylvania,  where  I  was  born  and  bred.  Will 
iam  Gibson,  a  classmate  of  mine,  also  made  York  his 
home.  He  was  appointed  about  the  same  time  I  was. 
He  used  to  wear  a  little  round  jacket  with  Navy  buttons 
on  it,  upon  which  I  looked  with  envious  eyes.  He  also 
wrote  for  the  local  newspapers,  which  was  another  cause 
of  envy  in  me.  I  would  write  mental  articles  to  try 
and  get  even  with  him.  I  thought  mine  pretty  good, 
but  no  one  ever  saw  them  or  knew  of  them  but  myself 
— while  his  were  published  and  read,,  mine  never  saw  the 

13 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

light.  I  was  between  fifteen  and  sixteen ;  Gibson  was,  I 
think,  a  little  my  senior.  "We  both  went  to  sea  soon  af 
ter.  He  became  quite  a  distinguished  poet,  and  was 
highly  commended  by  N.  P.  Willis  for  his  productions. 
We  were  always  good  friends  in  the  service,  but  our 
paths  seldom  crossed.  He  died  a  number  of  years  ago. 
At  the  period  about  which  I  am  writing,  the  interval 
of  time  from  the  War  which  closed  in  1815  was  less 
than  that  between  the  end  of  the  Civil  War  and  the 
present  time.  There  was  no  such  thing  as  a  Naval 
School  deserving  the  name.*  Midshipmen  were  sent 
to  the  Naval  Asylum  at  Philadelphia  (a  sort  of  sailors' 
home)  after  six  years'  service,  and  there  made  a  kind  of 
preparation  for  examination,  but  there  was  no  organi 
zation.  They  did  as  they  pleased,  studied  or  idled  as 
suited  their  whims.  There  was  a  Professor  of  Math 
ematics,  and  also  a  Professor  of  French.  There  was 
no  discipline.  The  name  of  the  French  Professor  was 
Miere ;  on  entering  the  recitation-room  one  morning  he 
found  written  on  the  black-board :  "  The  study  of  the 
French  Language,  under  the  present  circumstances,  is  a 
miere  humbug."  Of  course  the  Professor  was  angry,  but, 
as  I  stated  above,  there  was  no  discipline,  and  such  of 
fences  went  unpunished ;  the  Professors  were  obliged  to 
get  along  as  best  they  could.  Not  very  long  before  the 


*  Since  writing  this  passage  I  have  learned  from  Professor  Soley's  His 
tory  of  the  Naval  Academy  that  an  effort  was  made  to  have  Schools  for  Mid 
shipmen  at  the  Navy-Yards  at  Boston,  New  York,  and  Norfolk;  and,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  such  did  really  exist.  I  will  quote  from  Professor  Soley's 
book : 

"  Attached  to  each  were  one  or  two  instructors  and  a  few  pupils.  The  De 
partment  had  lately  issued  an  order  (so  called  in  the  report,  but  more  prop 
erly  a  suggestion)  to  all  Midshipmen  not  otherwise  employed,  to  repair  to  one 
of  those  schools  to  receive  instruction ;  but  as  there  was  no  provision  for  al 
lowing  them  travelling  expenses,  few  had  taken  advantage  of  it." 

U 


NAVY   FILLED    WITH    MIDSHIPMEN 

time  of  which  I  have  just  spoken,  the  Midshipmen  were 
examined  at  Barnum's  Hotel,  in  Baltimore,  for  then 
there  was  no  Naval  School  whatsoever.  But  there  has 
been  a  great  change  since  those  days,  and  now  the  Navy 
can  boast,  with  reason  and  pride,  of  one  of  the  best  edu 
cational  establishments  in  this  or  any  other  country. 

About  the  time  I  was  appointed  there  were  between 
two  and  three  hundred  Acting  Midshipmen  created,  ow 
ing  to  the  fact  that  there  were  three  or  four  Secreta 
ries  of  the  Navy  during  the  year  1841 ;  the  three  I  re 
member  were  Paulding,  Henshaw,  and  Upshur.  There 
seemed  to  be  no  legal  limit  to  the  number  they  could 
appoint,  so  each  one  exercised  his  power  in  providing 
for  his  friends,  and  the  Navy  was  so  filled  up  with  Mid 
shipmen  that,  in  order  to  employ  them,  it  was  necessary 
to  crowd  the  steerages — the  places  where  the  Midship 
men  lived  on  board  ship — far  beyond  their  capacity,  so 
that  in  the  Frigate  in  which  I  first  went  to  sea  the  space 
which,  looked  upon  from  a  non-seafaring  point  of  view, 
was  hardly  enough  to  accommodate  four  people,  had  to 
be  utilized  for  twenty-four.  Another  disadvantage  of  this 
over-appointing  was  that  no  appointments  were  made 
for  five  years,  if  I  except  the  year  1842,  when  there  were 
only  twelve,  or  even  a  less  number,  of  Acting  Midship 
men  created.  So  it  happened  that  this  useful  class  of 
young  officers  became  very  scarce,  and  had  to  be  sup 
plemented  by  Masters'  Mates,  a  system  which  did  not 
work  well.  They  were  not  in  a  line  of  promotion,  and 
hence  without  esprit  de  corps.  Indeed,  it  took  some 
years  to  overcome  the  inconvenience  that  this  over 
stocking  produced. 

In  the  spring  of  1841  I  was  ordered  to  the  Keceiving- 
Ship  North  Carolina,  at  New  York.  This  line-of-battle 
ship  was  utilized  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  on  board 

15 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

enlisted  men,  who  were  detained  there  until  they  were 
drafted  for  some  sea -going  ship.  She,  as  well  as  the 
100-gun  ship  Pennsylvania,  at  Norfolk,  served  as  a  ren 
dezvous  for  Acting  Midshipmen  who  were  sent  to  them 
in  order  that  they  might  pick  up  some  of  the  "  ways  of 
the  sea  "  before  they  were  ordered  to  a  regular  cruiser. 
On  board  the  old  North,  as  we  used  to  call  her,  there 
was  a  Professor  of  Mathematics,  of  the  name  of  Ward, 
and  there  was  some  pretence  of  having  school,  but  it 
did  not  amount  to  much.  All  that  I  remember  is  that 
I  was  taught  some  expressions,  such  as  "  din0.,"  "  lat.," 
and  "  departure,"  but  I  do  not  think  I  had  the  most  re 
mote  idea  what  they  meant.  I  have  never  forgotten 
how  the  Professor,  when  twelve  o'clock  was  sounded, 
alwa}7s  sent  for  his  plate  of  ship's  soup  which  was 
served  to  the  crew,  and  how  he  smacked  his  lips  and 
enjoyed  it,  which,  indeed,  we  all  did,  for  I  remember 
how  exceedingly  good  it  was. 

There  were  two  messes  for  the  Midshipmen  on  board 
the  North  Carolina — one,  the  gun-room  mess,  as  it  was 
called,  and  the  other  the  steerage  mess.  I  was  assigned 
to  the  steerage,  where  we  lived  like  pigs.  The  gun 
room  was  far  more  respectable.  It  was  there  that  the 
Passed  Midshipmen  lived,  and  I  think  the  Assistant  Sur 
geons.  As  these  were  grown  men,  and  knew  how  to  take 
care  of  themselves,  they  had  a  very  nice  mess.  Things 
became  so  bad  in  the  steerage  that  it  was  finally  aban 
doned  and  we  were  transferred  to  the  gun-room,  much 
to  my  delight.  I  formed  friendships  there  that  were 
continued  throughout  my  service,  and  my  whole  condi 
tion  was  very  much  changed  for  the  better.  Captain 
Gallagher  commanded,  and  the  First  Lieutenant  was  a 
man  of  the  name  of  Morehead — at  times  Lieutenant 
Whetmore  acted  in  the  same  capacity.  He  wore  spec- 

16 


I    TIRE    OF    THE    NAVY 

tacles,  and  we  used  to  call  him  "  Old  Four-Eyes."  They 
were  both  odd  fish,  as  I  look  back  at  them  now,  but  the 
Navy  was  filled  with  odd  material  in  those  days.  Some 
of  the  ofiicers  whom  I  remember  kindly  were  Benham, 
Barton,  Neville,  Woodhull,  Schenck,  Green  Bay,  and 
others.  They  are  all  dead  now.  The  one  who  was  es 
pecially  kind  to  me  was  Benham.  I  have  always  held 
him  in  affectionate  remembrance.  He  died  many  years 
ago. 

During  the  summer  months  the  ship  was  anchored  off 
the  Battery,  and,  to  some  extent,  the  duties  were  much 
the  same  as  those  performed  in  a  regular  cruiser.  We 
had  our  watches  to  keep  and  our  duty  to  perform,  but 
there  was  not  much  to  point  her  out  as  a  war  machine. 
There  had  been  a  long  peace,  and  such  training  as  now 
takes  place  on  board  our  ships  of  war  was  not  even 
dreamed  of  then.  Indeed,  there  was  comparatively  lit 
tle  of  it  in  our  regular  cruisers ;  people  thought  a  great 
deal  more  of  being  sailor-men  than  military  men.  Sailor- 
men  were,  of  course,  very  necessar}^  but  the  more  im 
portant — that  is,  the  fighting -machine  —  should  never 
have  held  a  secondary  place.  I  soon  became  weary  of  the 
inactive  and  monotonous  life  I  was  leading.  The  future 
seemed  to  hold  out  nothing  that  was  very  alluring,  and 
I  strongly  contemplated  resigning  and  trying  my  fort 
une  in  some  other  walk  of  life.  I  talked  over  the  matter 
with  my  uncle,  Dr.  Buel,  who  was  a  practising  physi 
cian  in  New  York,  and  he  agreed  with  me  that  the  pros 
pects  were  not  very  brilliant.  However,  both  thought 
over  the  matter  for  several  days,  and  agreed  that  as 
there  must  be  Naval  officers,  and  as  I  had  embarked 
upon  a  career  in  which  there  was  a  certainty  of  exist 
ence,  while  any  other  would  be  an  experiment,  at  all 
events  doubtful,  I  should  continue  it ;  and  now  I  felt 

B  17 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

that  I  was  fairly  launched  in  my  profession.  I  made 
several  ineffectual  attempts  during  the  summer  to  get 
orders  to  sea,  and  even  applied  for  the  Brig  Boxer, 
which  was  fitting  for  a  cruise  to  the  coast  of  Labrador. 
Finally,  in  September,  I  was  ordered  to  the  Frigate 
United  States,  which  was  fitting  out  at  the  Norfolk 
Navy- Yard.  Accordingly,  I  repaired  to  my  new  post, 
and,  staying  on  the  way  at  the  United  States  Hotel,  at 
Philadelphia,  for  a  night,  I  there  encountered  my  new 
Commanding  officer,  Captain  James  Armstrong,  a  stal 
wart  Kentuckian,  about  six  feet  tall  and  large  in  pro 
portion.  I  remember  he  wore  a  sort  of  leather  cap 
adorned  with  a  gold  band  with  ragged  edges.  It  was  a 
slight  thing  to  remember,  but  the  grotesqueness  of  his 
whole  appearance  made  an  impression  upon  my  youth 
ful  mind  which  has  never  been  effaced.  He  found  out 
who  I  was,  and  that  I  was  going  to  join  his  ship,  and  en 
gaged  me  in  an  agreeable  conversation  which  made  me 
feel  comfortable,  and  seemed  to  me  an  auspicious  be 
ginning  of  my  cruise. 

I  reported  at  the  Norfolk  Yard  to  Commodore  War- 
rington  early  in  October,  and,  as  the  ship  was  not  yet 
ready  to  receive  the  officers  and  crew,  remained  for  sev 
eral  days  at  French's  Hotel.  I  never  shall  forget  how 
good  the  Lynn  Haven  Bay  oysters  tasted  when  the 
negro  waiters  produced  them  before  me,  with  the  ex 
clamation,  "  Navy  officers  very  fond  of  oysters !"  and 
I  remember  to  have  enjoyed  my  few  days  of  ease  there 
very  much  indeed.  I  met  at  the  hotel  my  future  mess 
mates,  who  were  to  be  my  close  companions  for  three 
years ;  there  we  formed  our  plans  for  messing,  and  dis 
cussed  the  coming  cruise  with  that  enthusiasm  which 
belongs  to  youth  alone. 

We  were  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy  our  ease.    Orders 

18 


ON    BOARD    THE    UNITED    STATES 

came  for  us  to  repair  on  board  the  Frigate,  and  we  were 
placed  in  our  proper  messes  in  the  steerage,  had  our 
places  in  watches  and  divisions  assigned  to  us,  and  soon 
settled  down  to  regular  work.  I  was  put  in  the  lar 
board  mess — somehow,  for  what  reason  I  do  not  know, 
regarded  as  the  "swell"  place.  Most  of  my  friends, 
those  with  whom  I  had  served  in  the  Carolina,  were 
there  with  me,  and  as  we  had  seen  more  service  in  what 
Jack  used  to  call  the  Guardo,  we  had  a  pretty  good 
opinion  of  ourselves,  and  were  disposed  to  look  down 
on  the  men  of  the  starboard  steerage  as  youngsters, 
many  of  them  having  been  recently  appointed,  and  sent 
to  the  ship  without  any  previous  training  whatsoever. 
We  were  green  enough,  ourselves,  but  they  were  greener 
Midshipmen  still,  and  were  consequently  subjected  to 
the  hazing  and  running  which  fell  to  our  lot  on  board 
the  North  Carolina,  and  which  has  been  from  time 
immemorial  practised  in  all  institutions  by  the  older 
boys  upon  the  younger  ones,  and,  although  a  good 
deal  modified  now,  will  continue  to  be  a  custom  for 
ever. 

After  many  trials  and  vicissitudes  we  finally  settled 
down  to  the  regular  routine  of  a  man-of-war.  We 
elected  a  caterer  of  the  mess,  and  lived  comfortably 
enough  for  the  time.  Our  trials  came  on  with  the  night, 
for,  as  I  have  said,  our  mess-room,  which  was  our  bed 
room  also,  was  about  large  enough  fairly  to  accommo 
date  two  people,  yet  twelve  of  us  were  huddled  together 
in  this  apartment  like  so  many  pigs  in  a  pen.  Our 
hammocks,  instead  of  hanging  loose  to  the  sport  of  the 
wind,  formed  a  sort  of  continuous  sheet  of  canvas,  dotted 
over  with  mattresses.  We  could  neither  turn  in  or  out  of 
them  without  disturbing  our  neighbors,  causing  growl 
ing  and  quarrelling  which  often  led  to  serious  conse- 

19 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

quences.  I  think  there  was  but  one  basin  for  the  morn 
ing  toilet — at  the  most,  two — but  we  made  the  best  of 
our  inconveniences,  and  accepted  the  situation  with  a 
good  grace.  Eanged  around  this  luxurious  apartment 
were  the  lockers  for  our  clothes.  They  were  not  ample, 
but  we  accommodated  ourselves  to  their  capacity,  and 
managed  to  get  on  with  small  wardrobes.  We  were 
permitted  to  go  on  shore  occasionally,  when  we  laid  in 
our  private  stores,  books  for  our  journals,  our  quad 
rants,  etc. 

In  due  time  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Pacific 
Squadron,  Commander  Thomas  ap  Catesby  Jones,  ar 
rived,  and  hoisted  his  broad  pennant.  The  Commodore 
was,  I  think,  considered  one  of  the  best  officers  of  his 
day.  He  had  commanded  a  gunboat  in  the  waters  of 
Louisiana  with  great  credit,  being  wounded  in  the  arm 
in  some  affair  in  which  his  command  was  engaged,  the 
effect  of  which  he  carried  to  his  grave.  He  was  al 
lowed  a  servant  by  the  Government,  to  assist  him  in 
putting  on  and  taking  off  his  coat,  which  was  quite  im 
possible  for  him  to  do  alone.  His  contemporaries  were 
Shubrick,  Warrington,  Morris,  Wilkinson,  Claxton,  and 
others,  all  of  whom  had  served  in  the  War  of  1812. 
Stewart  also  commanded  a  squadron  about  this  time, 
but  he  was  older  than  those  I  have  mentioned,  and 
could  hardly  be  called  a  contemporary.  It  will  not, 
perhaps,  be  out  of  place  here  to  relate  a  little  anec 
dote  which  was  told  by  Commodore  Stewart  to  my  old 
friend  and  classmate,  the  late  Commodore  W.  T.  Trux- 
ton.  It  seems  that  Commodore  Truxton,  the  grand 
father  of  my  friend,  commanded  the  Naval  Station  at 
Baltimore.  At  the  time  to  which  I  refer,  Commodore 
Stewart  commanded  a  brig  which  was  fitted  out  there, 
and  had  been  ordered  by  Truxton  to  proceed  to  sea  on 

20 


OFFICERS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 

a  certain  day.  Stewart  reported  on  that  day  that  he 
was  altogether  unprepared,  and  that  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  sail,  as  he  had  not  yet  hoisted  in  his  main-mast. 
Truxton's  reply  was :  "  Obey  your  orders."  Stewart  did 
sail  at  the  appointed  time,  towing  his  main-mast  astern. 
The  wind  was  fortunately  fair,  and  he  continued  on 
until  he  reached  a  point  beyond  the  limits  of  Truxton's 
command,  where  he  anchored,  hoisted  in  his  main-mast, 
and  completed  his  preparations  for  sea. 

The  Constitution,  the  former  flag-ship  of  the  Pacific 
Station,  passed  us  on  her  way  to  the  ISTorf oik  Navy- Yard 
while  we  were  lying  at  the  buoy  off  Town  Point.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  impression  the  song  of  the  leads 
men  made  upon  me,  as  they  called  out :  "  By  the  mark 
five,"  "  By  the  deep  six,"  etc. ;  it  was  music  to  my  ear 
then,  and  has  been  ever  since.  I  think  the  old  song 
has  ceased  to  charm,  and  has  gone  into  disuse  with  the 
ships  in  which  it  was  used.  With  our  rapid-moving 
craft  the  Captain  must  know  the  soundings  quicker  than 
he  did  when  they  came  to  him  only  at  the  end  of  a  stave 
of  the  old  song. 

While  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  these  lines  will  ever 
meet  the  eye  of  any  one  who  knew  the  officers  of  the 
Frigate  United  States  as  contemporaries,  yet  it  might 
not  be  amiss  to  mention  their  names,  as  it  is  possible 
they  might  be  seen  by  some  of  their  descendants,  for  it 
is  generally  pleasant  to  know  what  our  ancestors  were 
doing,  and  where  they  were,  many  j^ears  ago.  The  First 
Lieutenant  was  Isaac  S.  Sterrett,  of  Baltimore — "  Mob- 
town,"  as  he  used  to  like  to  call  it,  for  it  had  earned 
that  reputation  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak.  He  was 
a  good  seaman,  and  knew  his  duties  well.  He  did  not 
remain  long  with  us,  since  a  vacancy  occurred  in  a  com 
mand  soon  after  we  reached  the  Pacific  Station,  and  he 

21 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

was  ordered  to  fill  it.  The  Second  Lieutenant,  who  was 
in  those  days  the  senior  watch -officer,  was  Murray 
Mason.  He  was  by  no  means  a  favorite  with  the  Mid 
shipmen,  for  he  had  no  hesitation  in  sending  us  to  the 
mast-head  for  punishment.  He  was  transferred  soon 
after  we  reached  the  station  to  the  Cyane,  as  First  Lieu 
tenant.  The  other  Lieutenants  were  Henderson,  Du- 
lane\r,  Ball,  and  Avery.  The  Master  was  "W.  A.  Parker. 
At  that  time  the  junior  of  the  ward-room  line  officers 
was  called  Master,  which  corresponded  to  the  present 
Navigator,  who  ranks  next  to  the  Executive  Officer. 
"Why  the  junior  ever  occupied  that  position,  I  have  never 
been  able  to  understand,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  im 
portant  and  responsible  ones  on  board  of  a  ship  of  war. 
The  change  to  the  present  system  is,  I  think,  a  great 
improvement.  The  junior  Lieutenant,  Avery,  was  by 
far  the  best  sea-officer  I  have  ever  seen  on  the  deck  of  a 
man-of-war.  His  style  was  the  best,  his  manner  the 
most  seaman-like,  his  voice  was  like  music,  and  all  the 
qualities  that  go  to  make  up  the  best  type  of  deck-officer 
were  embodied  in  him.  The  men  jumped  at  his  call, 
and,  although  he  did  not  spare  them,  they  adored  him. 
No  officer  on  board  ship  could  get  the  work  out  of  them 
that  he  could.  The  Captain  had  the  most  implicit  con 
fidence  in  him,  and  when  we  were  buffeting  about  off 
Cape  Horn,  when  he  was  Officer  of  the  watch  uall 
hands"  were  never  called  for  getting  the  ship  under 
short  canvas,  for  he,  with  the  watch  on  deck,  was  suffi 
cient  of  himself.  Herman  Melville,  in  White  Jacket, 
calls  him  "  mad  Jack,"  and  when  he  was  making  the 
ship  snug  in  a  heavy  gale  of  wind  he  well  deserved  the 
sobriquet,  although  at  other  times  he  was  as  quiet  as  a 
lamb.  To  sum  him  up,  he  was  a  gentleman  seaman  of 
the  first  order. 

22 


GENERAL    LOCKWOOD 

Of  the  other  officers  I  do  not  remember  any  special 
peculiarities  which  they  possessed  that  distinguished 
them  from  others  of  their  class.  They  were  generally 
good  seamen,  and  looked  out  for  the  ship  well  when  in 
charge  of  the  deck. 

The  only  surviving  officer  that  I  call  to  my  recol 
lection  as  I  write  is  General  Lockwood.  He  must  be 
very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  eighty  years  of  age.  He  was 
our  Professor  of  Mathematics,  and  was  most  zealous  in 
his  efforts  to  instil  into  our  youthful  minds  the  rudi 
ments  of  algebra  and  geometry.  He  carried  us  up  to 
analytical  geometry,  and  made  those  of  us  who  took 
an  interest  in  his  teachings  very  good  navigators.  He 
also  taught  us  history,  and  never  lost  an  opportunity  to 
instruct  us  in  what  we  ought  to  know.  I  have  always 
felt  grateful  to  him  for  giving  me  such  a  good  ground 
work  in  mathematics,  as  it  enabled  me  to  take  a  respect 
able  standing  in  these  studies  when  I  went  to  Annapolis 
to  prepare  for  my  examination.  He  is  now  on  the  re 
tired  list  of  the  Navy,  as  a  Professor  of  Mathematics 
having  served  a  long  and  honorable  career  not  only  in 
the  Navy,  but  as  a  general  officer  during  the  Civil 
War.  General  Lockwood  may  be  said  to  have  been 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annap 
olis,  for,  with  the  exception  of  the  time  he  served  in 
the  Army  during  the  War,  he  was  associated  with 
that  institution  from  its  infancy.  Of  the  Midshipmen, 
twenty-nine  in  all,  with  whom  I  served  in  the  Frig 
ate  United  States,  I  know  of  no  one  now  living,  and  I 
do  not  know  that  any  of  them  lived  long  enough  to  at 
tain  Flag  rank  except  myself.  Jeffers  became  a  Com 
modore,  and  died  in  that  grade.  They  had  nearly  all 
disappeared,  in  one  way  and  another,  before  the  War, 
and,  so  far  as  I  can  recollect,  Jeffers  and  I  were  the 

23 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

only  ones  whose  names  were  borne  on  the  Navy  Keg- 
ister  after  its  close.  This  is  all  I  have  to  say  at  pres 
ent  of  my  first  shipmates,  but  it  is  quite  likely  that 
I  shall  refer  to  them  further  on  in  the  course  of  this 
narrative. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  First  Cruise — Madeira  and  Rio — Manners  on  Board  Ship— Im 
provement  in  the  Service — Boatswains  and  Gunners — British  and 
American  Ships — Uniforms — A  Gallant  French  Seaman. 

THE  Frigate  United  States  sailed  from  Hampton  Koads 
early  in  January,  1842.  She  was  a  ship  about  the  size 
of  the  old  Constitution,  and  was  launched  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  last  century.  She  was  known  among  the  old 
seamen  of  those  days  as  the  States  Frigate,  and  had  the 
reputation  of  being  the  swiftest  ship  in  the  Navy,  and 
perhaps  in  the  world.  She  was  not  what  might  be 
called  a  pretty  ship  in  these  days,  and  did  not  sit  as 
gracefully  on  the  water  as  the  Constitution,  for  her  best 
sailing-point  was  when  she  was  trimmed  by  the  head, 
which  detracts  very  much  from  the  appearance  of  any 
ship ;  but  she  was  so  good  in  all  other  respects  that  her 
ugliness  was  forgotten.  In  the  rating  of  the  day,  she 
was  what  was  called  a  forty-four-gun  Frigate ;  and  al 
though  I  do  not  remember  the  exact  number  of  guns 
she  carried,  yet  it  was  more  than  she  was  rated.  The 
main-deck  guns  were  long  twenty-fours ;  they  had  been 
taken  from  one  of  the  captured  British  Frigates,  and 
had  a  crown  moulded  on  the  upper  part  of  the  breech. 
The  spar  -  deck  battery  consisted  of  forty  -  two  -  pounder 
carronades,  and  twenty-four-pounder  bow-chasers.  The 
higher  calibre  guns  had  not  yet  come  into  general  use — 
at  all  events  we  had  none  of  them  on  board  the  United 
States. 

25 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

We  shaped  our  course  for  Madeira ;  the  wind  was  fair, 
and  we  soon  reached  the  Gulf  Stream.  We  were  glad 
to  leave  the  cold  weather  behind  us,  for  our  discomforts 
in  fitting  out  during  the  winter  were  very  great.  I  have 
never  forgotten  the  pleasing  impression  that  this  thaw 
ing  out,  so  to  speak,  made  upon  my  youthful  mind.  The 
sea,  to  be  sure,  was  rough,  but  there  was  the  bright 
sky  overhead,  and  the  deep  blue  sea  underneath,  and  we 
were  fairly  off  on  our  cruise.  There  was  no  more  shiv 
ering  as  we  marched  up  and  down  the  deck  in  our  night 
watches,  and  everything  now  seemed  couleur  de  rose. 
The  passage  to  Madeira  was,  I  think,  the  ordinary  length, 
about  eighteen  or  twenty  days.  We  managed  to  run  into 
a  gale  of  wind  just  as  we  sighted  the  Island,  and  were 
buffeted  about  for  two  or  three  days.  It  was  not  thought 
prudent  to  make  the  anchorage,  for  there  is  no  harbor 
at  Funchal,  and  it  is  necessary  to  anchor  in  very  deep 
water,  with  the  ship  prepared  to  get  under  way  upon 
the  approach  of  bad  weather.  Vessels  were  always 
warned  by  the  firing  of  a  gun  on  shore  when  it  was 
deemed  unsafe  to  remain  at  anchor,  so  they  always 
went  to  sea  when  this  signal  was  given,  for  if  they  re 
mained  too  long,  they  were  in  great  danger  of  being 
driven  ashore.  After  the  gale  subsided,  and  the  sea 
calmed  do  wn,  we  came  to  anchor  near  Loo  Rock,  and,  soon 
after,  the  natives  swarmed  on  board,  bringing  with  them 
the  most  delicious  grapes,  and  fruits  of  every  variety. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  how  eager  we  were  to  get 
at  them  after  our  long  passage  at  sea;  and  then  the 
fresh  grub  which  followed  soon  after  in  the  shape  of 
beefsteak  and  onions  and  soft  tack  (bread),  produced  a 
sensation  never  to  be  forgotten. 

Our  stay  at  Madeira  was  to  be  short — I  think  it  was 
only  three  days — so  we  Midshipmen  were  allowed  to  go 


AT    MADEIRA 

on  shore,  half  of  our  number  at  a  time.  It  was  our  first 
foreign  port,  and  we  of  course  enjoyed  it  to  the  fullest 
extent.  I  do  not  remember  much  of  what  we  did,  but  I 
recall  that  we  each  hired  a  horse,  and  dashed  wildly 
about  the  Island,  reckless  of  consequences,  each  fellow 
trying  to  get  ahead  of  the  other,  the  owner  or  attendant 
of  the  horse  hanging  on  by  his  tail  all  the  time.  How 
they  managed  to  do  it,  I  do  not  know,  but  they  did, 
somehow  or  other.  At  this  time  our  Consul  was  Mr. 
Howard  March ;  he  was  also  a  wine  merchant,  and  lived 
in  great  luxury.  I  dined  with  him  once,  but  I  do  not  re 
member  whether  it  was  at  this  time  or  upon  some  sub 
sequent  visit.  I  remember  distinctly,  however,  that  he 
produced  some  rare  old  Madeira  that  w^as  nearly  as 
white  as  water.  At  the  time  about  which  I  am  writing, 
Madeira  wine  was  still  much  drunk  in  this  country.  We 
received  on  board  many  casks  of  it  for  the  Commodore 
and  his  friends  who  had  given  him  orders  for  it,  and  who 
wished  their  wine  to  have  the  benefit  of  a  three  years' 
shaking  up  before  it  was  delivered  to  them  at  home.  I 
recollect  distinctly  some  of  the  names  of  well-known 
people  on  the  barrels,  as  they  came  on  board  to  be, 
stored  away  for  a  cruise,  deep  down  in  the  spirit-room  of 
the  Frigate.  After  everybody  had  had  an  opportunity 
of  a  run  on  shore,  and  our  stores  for  the  next  passage 
had  been  received  on  board,  the  spirit-room  well  stocked 
for  its  curing  process,  and  after  the  delights  of  our  three 
days'  sojourn,  we  were  not  unwilling  to  proceed  towards 
our  station  in  the  Pacific,  for  there  was  a  feeling  that  I 
think  we  all  shared,  of  strong  "desire  to  be  there. 

We  sailed  from  Madeira  in  the  early  days  of  February, 
bound  for  Kio  de  Janeiro.  We  soon  took  the  N.E.  trades, 
and  steered  for  the  meridian  at  which  we  were  to  cross 
the  equator ;  for  it  is  necessary,  as  all  seamen  know,  to 

37 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

give  one's  self  plenty  of  Easting,  in  order  that  when  the 
S.E.  trade-winds  strike  the  ship  she  will  have  abundant 
room  to  weather  Cape  St.  Koque,  for  ships  have  been 
known,  when  falling  to  leeward,  to  have  to  run  back  into 
the  variables  to  make  their  Easting,  and  try  it  over  again. 
When  we  reached  the  equator  there  was,  as  is  usual,  great 
excitement,  for  not  one  of  the  Midshipmen  had  ever 
crossed  the  line  before,  and  the  first  crossing  is  always 
an  interesting  epoch  to  all  who  go  to  sea.  Fortunately, 
Neptune's  visit  was  not  permitted  on  board  the  United 
States,  as  it  is  in  most  ships  of  war.  I  never  knew  why, 
but  I  suppose  the  reason  was  that  there  were  so  many 
greenhorns  on  board  that  it  would  have  given  him  and 
his  assistants  altogether  too  much  to  do. 

Nothing  of  especial  interest  occurred  until  we  sighted 
Cape  Frio,  the  first  land  that  is  made  in  approaching 
the  harbor  of  Eio.  The  next  day  we  sighted  the  Sugar 
Loaf,  a  very  striking  landmark  at  the  entrance  of  the 
harbor,  and  with  a  fine  sea-breeze  we  shot  past  it  and  en 
tered  one  of  the  most  beautiful  bays  in  the  Avorld — in 
deed,  taken  together  with  its  great  capacity  and  gorgeous 
scenery,  it  is  not  equalled  by  any  other  that  I  have  ever 
seen.  We  moored  ship  for  a  somewhat  protracted  stay. 
It  was  necessary  to  calk,  provision,  and  water  her,  and 
make  such  other  preparations  as  would  render  her  snug 
for  the  passage  around  the  Horn.  We  had  completely 
changed  the  season,  for,  although  we  were  in  February, 
it  was  summer  in  Kio,  and  the  weather  was  hot  enough. 
It  was,  however,  tempered  by  the  sea-breeze,  which 
blows  here  with  the  regularity  of  a  monsoon  every  after 
noon  ;  and  as  the  awnings  were  kept  spread,  the  ship 
was  comparatively  cool  and  comfortable.  We  soon  set 
tled  down  to  the  routine  of  harbor  work.  The  neces 
sary  preparations  for  the  Cape  passage  went  regularly 

28 


MANAGING    A    MESS 

on.  The  officers  were  permitted  to  visit  the  shore,  as 
their  liberty  days,  as  they  were  called,  came  around.  I 
think  we  all  enjoyed  the  change  from  the  sea -life. 
The  fact  of  having  fresh  grub  and  fruit  after  our 
salt-horse  (beef)  and  pork  at  sea  was  most  agreeable. 
Our  crockery  was  broken  at  sea,  and  our  stores  nearly 
all  wasted,  by  the  time  we  reached  Rio.  One  of  the 
principal  articles  of  our  table  furniture  was  a  cigar-box, 
from  which  we  used  to  eat  our  soup,  taking  it  in  turns. 
"We  called  it  the  steamboat — why,  I  do  not  remember. 
The  salt  beef  would  be  placed  on  the  table,  and  who 
ever  said  "  First  beef !"  had  the  first  cut.  There  was  al 
ways  a  choice,  because  the  delicate  part  of  salt-horse  is 
the  fat,  and  the  fellow  speaking  first,  always  got  the 
best  of  that.  We  made  it  a  point  of  honor  that  the  first 
speaker  should  have  the  first  choice.  I  often  wonder 
that  there  was  not  a  row  about  it,  and  how  we  man 
aged  to  keep  the  peace  when  the  condition  of  things 
was  so  crude.  There  was  something  very  cruel,  as  I 
look  back  at  it,  in  permitting  a  lot  of  boys  to  be  hud 
dled  together,  with  no  one  to  look  out  for  their  well- 
being,  most  of  them  only  sixteen  or  under,  with  no  expe 
rience,  and  expected  to  manage  a  mess.  To  be  sure,  one 
of  the  number  was  appointed  by  themselves  caterer,  but 
what  could  he  know  about  keeping  a  boarding-house  or 
disciplining  servants,  for  such  really  were  the  duties  he 
was  expected  to  perform.  There  was  something  very 
faulty  in  this  regard  in  those  days,  and  we  were  suffer 
ers  from  a  bad  system.  It  is  all  changed  now.  The 
graduates  of  the  Naval  Academy  are  men  when  thev 
leave  there,  and  are  prepared  for  anything ;  but  then  it 
was  otherwise ;  we  were  only  green  boys,kno  wing  nothing. 
The  American  man-of-war  in  the  days  about  which  I 
am  now  writing  differed  but  in  a  slight  degree  from  the 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

British  ships  of  war  of  the  time  about  which  Marryat 
wrote,  and  made  himself  famous  by  his  charming  stories 
of  the  sea.  To  be  sure,  the  flogging  of  Midshipmen  was 
not  permitted,  but  there  is  one  instance  on  record  when 
this  was  resorted  to,  although  it  is  the  only  one  which 
has  ever  come  to  my  knowledge.  The  names  of  the 
parties  to  this  transaction,  and  the  circumstances  at 
tending  it,  have  long  since  passed  from  my  mind,  but  I 
remember  distinctly  how  the  matter  was  discussed  by 
us  Midshipmen  fifty  years  ago,  and  how  the  case  was 
disposed  of  by  the  authorities,  in  such  a  way  as  to  make 
us  feel  assured  that  it  would  never  occur  again.  In 
most  other  respects  our  ships  were  the  same  in  their 
internal  economy  as  those  on  which  Midshipmen  Easy 
and  Peter  Simple  had  seen  their  service.  Mast-heading 
was  still  resorted  to,  and  I  remember,  in  my  own  case,  I 
was  once  kept  aloft  so  long  that  I  went  quietly  to  sleep 
in  the  bunt  of  the  foresail.  On  the  occasion  to  which 
I  refer,  I  was  sent  only  to  the  foremast-head,  but  anoth 
er  time  I  passed  many  hours  at  the  maintopmast-head. 
I  recall  distinctly  how  we  managed  to  smuggle  a  small 
bottle  of  whiskey  to  one  of  our  messmates  who  was 
mast-headed ;  and,  while  it  was  not  enough  to  make  him 
drunk,  he  was  in  a  very  happy  frame  of  mind  when  he 
came  down.  This  method  of  punishment,  however,  was 
brought  to  an  end  in  the  Squadron  in  which  I  saw  my 
first  service,  by  charges  having  been  preferred  against 
some  Lieutenant  for  illegal  punishment,  of  which  mast 
heading  was  one  of  the  specifications.  The  Lieutenant 
came  to  grief,  and  that  system  of  punishment  was  never 
again  resorted  to  in  that  Squadron.  I  have  never  heard 
of  an  instance  of  it  from  that  day  to  this ;  but  yet  we 
were  a  good  deal  "  bullyragged  "  in  various  ways.  I  do 
not  remember  many  instances  when  we  were  absolutely 

30 


A    BOATSWAIN'S    WEAKNESS 

cursed  by  our  superior  officers,  but  the  general  tone  and 
style  were  much  the  same  as  Marryat  describes  when 
he  so  vividly  represents  a  First  Lieutenant  giving  utter 
ance  in  the  most  polite  manner  to  the  choicest  expres 
sions  upon  reprimanding  some  delinquent,  and  winding 
up  by  applying  epithets  to  him  which  are  familiar  to 
the  readers  of  Marryat's  novels.  The  Boatswains  and 
Gunners  of  those  days  were  very  much  the  same  as 
those  of  Marryat's  cruisers.  The  Boatswain  of  the 
Frigate  in  which  I  made  my  first  cruise  was  an  Eng 
lishman  by  birth,  and  had  been  promoted  from  the 
ranks.  He  had  been  a  Boatswain's  mate,  and  was 
what  is  called  on  board  ship  a  good  man,  which  means 
a  man  that  does  his  work  intelligently  and  well.  He 
had  the  failing  of  most  of  his  class :  he  would  drink, 
and  sometimes  to  excess.  On  one  occasion,  when  he  had 
been  indulging  steadily  for  some  time,  and  was  on  the 
verge  of  delirium  tremens,  some  of  the  Midshipmen  con 
vinced  him  that  he  was  dead,  took  him  to  his  room,  laid 
him  out,  put  cents  on  his  eyes,  and  left  him  in  that  con 
dition.  He  soon  recovered,  however,  and  returned  to  his 
duties.  Such  offences  were  readily  condoned  in  those 
days,  for  they  were  frequent,  not  only  with  Jack,  but 
with  his  master.  The  former  no  longer  thinks  it  neces 
sary  to  get  drunk  when  he  goes  on  shore,  and  the  im 
provement  in  this  regard  among  naval  officers  has 
been  most  marked  during  the  past  fifty  years.  While 
at  the  time  to  which  I  refer  drunkenness  was  very  com 
mon,  it  is  now,  as  a  habit,  almost  unknown.  A  whole 
some  dread  of  the  examining  boards,  and  the  general 
improvement  of  the  times  in  matters  of  temperance, 
have  been  instrumental  in  producing  a  personnel  which 
is  perhaps  as  little  addicted  to  the  vice  of  intemperance 
as  that  of  any  Navy  in  the  world. 

31 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

While  Boatswains  have  many  of  the  peculiarities  of 
the  class  from  which  most  of  them  have  sprung,  which 
perhaps  would  unfit  them  for  promotion  to  the  higher 
ranks,  there  is  no  officer  on  board  ship  who  is,  in  a  gen 
eral  way,  more  useful  than  they  are.  Advanced  to  the 
position  which  he  occupies,  first  because  he  is  a  first- 
class  seaman,  and  owing  to  his  ability  to  lead  men,  the 
Boatswain  is  always  on  hand  when  any  general  work  is 
going  on,  and  is  of  the  greatest  assistance  to  the  Execu 
tive  Officer  in  managing  the  crew  as  a  whole.  Of  course, 
as  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  aloft  these  days  in  our 
new  men-of-war,  it  might  be  said  that  his  usefulness 
would  be  somewhat  impaired;  but  if  I  were  in  com 
mand,  now,  of  one  of  the  modern  ships,  I  should  be 
very  sorry  to  be  without  a  Boatswain.  The  Gunner 
of  the  old  days  was  not  altogether  unlike  the  Boat 
swain  ;  like  him,  he  was  generally  promoted  from  the 
ranks,  and,  like  him,  must  necessarily  be  a  good  seaman 
and  leader  of  men.  In  addition  to  the  charge  of  the 
guns  and  everything  connected  with  the  battery,  he 
was  also  responsible  for  the  main -rigging  and  every 
thing  belonging  to  the  main  -  sail,  and  as  his  domain 
bordered  so  closely  upon  that  of  the  Boatswain,  who 
had  charge  of  the  main-mast  from  the  main-yard  up  to 
the  main-truck,  many  a  row  between  these  old  salts  took 
place,  and  there  was  a  sort  of  border  warfare  always 
going  on.  The  Gunner  with  whom  I  served  on  my 
first  cruise  was  a  rare  character.  He  had  no  mercy 
upon  any  delinquent  subordinate,  more  especially  if  he 
sat  upon  the  match-tubs,  or  interfered  in  the  slightest 
degree  with  anything  in  connection  with  the  battery, 
even  though  that  interference  might  be  entirely  harm 
less.  The  match-tubs  were  little  wooden  vessels,  hav 
ing  a  top  with  a  hole  in  it,  in  which  a  lighted  match, 

32 


AMERICAN    NAVAL    CUSTOMS    INHERITED 

fixed  upon  an  upright  stick,  was  placed,  and  made  to 
stand  erect  by  a  sharp  iron  point  on  the  end  opposite 
the  match.  It  must  be  remembered  that  I  am  writing 
of  the  days  when  guns  had  to  be  touched  off  by  match 
es.  I  am  thus  particular  in  describing  the  match-tubs, 
because  the  old  Gunner,  finding  that  the  men  used  them 
for  seats,  placed  some  sharp  iron  spikes  in  them,  so  that 
any  one  sitting  on  them  might  receive  an  ugly  wound, 
or,  if  he  stepped  upon  them  with  bare  feet,  might  be 
seriously  injured.  But  what  did  he  care  ?  The  match- 
tubs  were  diverted  from  their  proper  use,  and  lie  pro 
posed  to  get  even  with  the  perpetrators  of  so  flagrant 
an  offence.  Of  course  he  was  not  sustained ;  the  mat 
ter  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  proper  authorities, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  remove  the  spikes.  He  had  the 
satisfaction,  however,  of  showing  what  a  high  crime  and 
misdemeanor  he  considered  it,  to  sit  on  one  of  his  match- 
tubs.  This  old  Gunner  is  called  by  Herman  Melville, 
in  White  Jacket,  "  Old  Combustibles."  Melville  was  a 
shipmate  of  mine,  and  of  the  Gunner  as  well.  I  shall 
probably  have  occasion  to  refer  to  him  again  in  the 
course  of  this  narrative. 

The  customs  of  an  American  man-of-war  came  down 
by  natural  inheritance  from  those  in  force  on  board  the 
ships  of  the  mother-country.  We  piped  to  dinner,  we 
rolled  to  grog,  we  played  "  The  Roast  Beef  of  Old  Eng 
land,"  we  had  our  Jimmy  Ducks,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
look  out  for  the  live  -  stock,  our  Jack  o'  the  Dust,  who 
brought  up  the  tail  end  of  the  Purser's  staff,  got  up  the 
grog,  assisted  in  serving  out  provisions,  and  attended 
generally  to  any  work  that  was  going  on  in  the  Purser's 
department.  Then  there  was  "  Jimmy  Legs,"  the  Mas- 
ter-at-Arms.  Why  this  sobriquet  was  given  to  him  I 
never  knew,  but  possibly  Jackie  thought  it  appropriate, 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

because  it  was  his  duty  to  put  his  legs  in  irons  when 
he  deserved  it.  I  might  mention  many  other  points  of 
resemblance,  which,  indeed,  were  so  striking  in  many 
instances  that  but  for  the  Flag  and  the  Crown  on  the 
one,  and  the  Flag  and  the  Eagle  on  the  other,  one  might 
have  imagined  himself,  if  his  eyes  had  been  suddenly 
unbandaged,  to  be  on  board  a  ship  of  either  nation.  To 
be  sure,  there  was  more  homogeneity  in  the  crew  of  the 
British  ship ;  they  looked  alike,  as  if  they  belonged  to 
the  same  nation,  which,  indeed,  with  rare  exceptions, 
they  did,  while  the  American  man-of-war  of  those  days 
had  a  crew  composed  of  men  of  all  nations,  and  it  was 
rarely  the  case  that  a  majority  of  them  were  native- 
born  Americans. 

Unlike  any  other  Navy,  the  ships  of  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  both  carried  a  guard  of  infantry 
called  Marines.  They  were  looked  upon  somewhat  in 
the  light  of  the  old  Swiss  Guards,  a  sort  of  protection 
to  the  throne.  At  that  time  Jack  was  altogether  a  dif 
ferent  character  from  what  he  is  now.  The  day  of  the 
usefulness  of  the  Marines  in  that  sense  has  passed  away, 
and  the  matter  of  dispensing  with  them  altogether  is 
being  discussed ;  but  they  are  such  a  useful  body  for 
the  protection  of  Consulates,  and  service  of  a  kindred 
nature,  while  they  are  still  a  portion  of  the  crew,  that  I 
doubt  the  wisdom  of  withdrawing  them  from  our  men- 
of-war,  in  which  opinion,  I  fear,  I  differ  from  many  naval 
officers. 

While  upon  the  subject  of  the  old  days  of  the  Navy, 
it  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  make  some  mention 
of  the  uniform  that  was  worn  at  the  time  I  entered  it. 
When  one  reflects  that  the  epaulets  now  worn  originated 
from  something  that  was  once  used  to  protect  the  shoul 
ders  from  a  sabre-cut,  it  seems  strange  enough  that  we 

34 


NAVAL    UNIFORMS 

should  have  worn  but  one,  but  such  was  really  the  case 
when  I  first  went  to  sea.  It  was  the  uniform  of  a  Lieu 
tenant,  and  was  worn  upon  the  right  shoulder.  There 
was  no  such  thing  as  a  frock-coat  known  to  the  service 
at  that  time,  and  it  was  long  before  the  conservative 
feeling  about  the  "swallow-tail"  could  be  overcome.  I 
remember  that  some  officer  who  was  a  strong  advocate 
for  the  frock-coat  remarked  that  there  was  no  especial 
objection  to  the  swallow-tail,  if  the  tails  were  changed 
to  the  front,  as  stomach  protectors.  There  was  no  ob 
jection  to  the  wearing  of  silk  high  hats  in  uniform  in 
those  days,  but,  although  I  have  seen  them  worn  my 
self,  the  custom  was  rapidly  dying  out.  Gray  trousers 
might  be  worn  with  blue  jackets — in  fact,  there  was  an 
indifference  about  uniform  which  at  this  day  it  is  difficult 
to  appreciate.  In  the  perusal  of  Dr.  McCauley's  Life  of 
Admiral  Anson,  to  which  I  am  indebted  for  what  I  say 
here  about  British  naval  uniform,  I  find  that  there  was 
the  same  indifference  to  it  formerly  in  the  British  ser 
vice  as  there  was  later  in  our  own.  He  says  that  up  to 
the  middle  of  the  last  century  there  was  no  special 
dress  or  costume  in  the  Royal  Navy  ;  that  on  the  Medi 
terranean  Station  it  was  a  common  thing  for  Lieutenants 
to  purchase  the  soldiers'  old  coats  at  Port  Mahon  and 
Gibraltar,  when,  trimming  them  with  black,  they  would 
wear  them  as  uniforms.  The  color  of  the  breeches 
on  every  Station  was  quite  immaterial,  and  left  to  the 
fancy  of  each  officer.  They  were  generally  black  or 
scarlet.  Major  Sennell,  in  a  letter,  says :  "  Sixty-two 
years  ago — in  1759 — I  saw  a  Master  of  a  man-of-war 
who  wore  a  red  coat  trimmed  with  black,  and  thought 
himself  very  smart.  Perhaps,"  he  says, "  it  was  one  of 
the  Lieutenants'  old  coats,  as  they  then  wore  blue  uni 
forms." 

35 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Navy  blue  was  then  but  newly  introduced,  and  was  a 
novelty  in  the  middle  of  the  century.  In  a  letter  from 
Captain  Keppel  to  Captain  Saumarez,  dated  London, 
25th  of  August,  1747,  he  says :  "  My  Lord  Anson  is  de 
sirous  that  many  of  us  should  make  coats  after  our  own 
tastes,  and  that  then  a  choice  should  be  made  of  one  to 
be  general,  and  if  you  will  appear  in  it  here,  he  says  he 
will  be  answerable  that  your  taste  will  not  be  among  the 
worst."  What  the  uniform  then  selected  was  does  not 
appear,  nor  can  any  Order  in  Council  be  found  either  in 
the  Council  Office  or  at  the  Admiralty,  where  Sir  John 
Barrow  caused  careful  search  to  be  made.  The  gossip 
ing  wits  of  the  town  said  that  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  the 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  took  the  idea  of  blue,  with 
white  collars,  cuffs,  and  facings,  from  the  Duchess  of 
Bedford's  riding-habit.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  adoption 
of  blue  as  the  Naval  color  dates  from  that  time.  I  pre 
sume  the  author  means,  by  that  time,  about  the  middle 
of  the  last  century.  If  any  modifications  in  the  details 
of  uniforms  were  gradually  introduced,  the  record  of 
these  must  be  found  in  the  portraits  of  Naval  Officers 
in  picture-galleries,  or  in  the  costumes  preserved  in  fam 
ily  wardrobes  and  old  chests,  or  in  historical  relics,  such 
as  the  famous  Nelson's  coat  in  the  show-case  at  Green 
wich  Hospital. 

In  the  same  work  of  Dr.  McCauley  from  which  I  have 
just  been  quoting,  I  was  so  much  struck  with  what  I 
read  of  the  gallantry  of  seamen  under  adverse  circum 
stances  that  I  thought  it  might  not  be  amiss  to  relate 
here  what  he  says  in  speaking  of  one  of  Anson's  fights. 
It  is  as  follows :  "  In  the  sea-fight  between  the  fleets 
of  Lord  Anson  and  M.  de  Jonquiere,  in  which  the  for 
mer  beat  the  Frenchman,  M.  St.  George,  the  Command 
er  of  the  Invincible,  kept  his  colors  flying  some  time 

36 


A    FRENCHMAN'S    SURRENDER 

after  the  French  Admiral  had  struck.  M.  St.  George 
struck  to  Alison's  ship,  the  Prince  George,  and  when 
he  went  on  board  to  deliver  up  his  sword  to  the  Ad 
miral,  all  were  impressed  by  the  courtesy  and  coolness 
of  this  French  officer  of  the  old,  chivalrous  type.  He 
went  frankly  up  to  Anson,  presenting  his  sword  with 
the  words:  "Monsieur,  vous  avez  vaincu  I? Invincible, 
et  La  Gloire  vous  suit;"  referring  to  the  companion 
French  ship,  which  was  also  captured.  This  neat  com 
pliment  was  delivered  in  a  charming  manner,  and  the 
scene  proved  the  beginning  of  a  personal  friendship 
which  became  very  intimate,  and  ceased  only  with  the 
Admiral's  death. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Dom  Pedro— Duelling  in  the  Navy— Around  the  Horn— In  Valpa 
raiso  —  Callao  and  Lima  —  Sailors'  Tricks  —  A  Conquest  of  Cali 
fornia. 

BUT  to  return  to  my  narrative.  Our  stay  at  Kio  was 
drawing  rapidly  to  a  close.  Quite  a  number  of  the 
officers  were  presented  to  the  Emperor  Dom  Pedro,  I 
amongst  the  number.  He  was  a  boy,  himself,  then,  not 
much  older,  if  any,  than  we  were.  He  became  distin 
guished  as  a  scientific  student  and  philanthropist  years 
after,  and  ruled  in  Brazil  with  a  mild  and  beneficent 
sway.  The  people  became  impatient  for  a  Republic, 
and  could  not  await  the  death  of  the  good  Emperor, 
but  dethroned  him,  and  set  up  a  Government  of  their 
own.  They  would  not  have  had  to  wait  long,  even  in 
the  course  of  nature ;  it  broke  his  heart,  and  he  died 
soon  after  he  lost  his  throne. 

In  those  days,  duelling  was  not  punished  by  dismis 
sal,  as  it  is  now.  Midshipmen,  upon  the  slightest  provo 
cation,  would  go  out  and  have  a  crack  at  each  other. 
One  morning  while  we  were  in  Rio,  a  party  of  friends 
of  one  side  and  the  other  went  to  see  fair  play,  and  wit 
ness  the  fight  which  took  place  between  two  youngsters, 
one  of  our  mess,  and  one  of  the  starboard  mess.  The 
distance  was,  I  think,  ten  paces,  and  the  weapons  small 
pocket-pistols.  The  bullet  of  one  of  the  youngsters 
passed  unpleasantly  near  the  head  of  the  other,  and, 
after  firing  two  or  three  rounds  without  hitting,  the 

38 


DUELLING    IN    THE    NAVY 

seconds  made  the  matter  up,  and  the  duel  was  off.  But 
the  principals  never  became  friends.  I  presume  there  is 
no  reason  now  why  their  names  should  not  be  men 
tioned.  One  was  a  very  clever  man  of  my  class,  and 
a  messmate,  A.  C.  Jackson ;  the  other,  also  a  class 
mate,  a  very  good  fellow,  of  the  name  of  Baldwin. 
They  are  both  dead  now,  and  the  duel  was  fought  more 
than  fifty  years  ago.  The  cause  which  brought  about 
the  fight  was  most  trifling,  as  were  the  causes  of  most 
of  the  infantile  duels  of  those  days.  This  pocket-pistol 
row,  however,  resulted  in  putting  a  stop  to  that  meth 
od  of  settling  difficulties  in  the  Pacific  Squadron ;  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  upon  hearing  of  it,  which  he  did 
soon  after  it  took  place,  issued  what  was  then  known  as 
"  the  duelling  pledge."  By  the  provisions  of  the  pledge, 
every  Midshipman  in  the  Squadron  was  obliged  to  sign 
it  upon  pain  of  being  detained  indefinitely  on  board 
ship,  without  any  leave  whatever.  Of  course  there  was 
a  show  of  rebellion  in  the  youthful  mind,  but  in  the  end 
we  all  signed  it  but  one.  In  some  of  the  ships  of  the 
Squadron  which  we  joined  later,  it  met  with  great  oppo 
sition,  and  I  think  the  midshipmen  of  the  Yorktown  all 
refused  to  sign.  I  fancy,  on  the  whole,  Commodore 
Jones  did  well,  and  may  have  saved  lives  which  oth 
erwise  would  have  been  uselessly  sacrificed,  for  even 
youngsters  did  not  always  fight  with  pocket-pistols. 

Somewhere  in  the  latter  part  of  February,  1842,  we 
sent  down  our  long  poles,  sent  up  our  stump  top-gallant 
masts,  bent  our  best  suit  of  sails,  and  got  under  way  to 
round  the  Horn,  the  stormy  Cape  at  the  lower  extrem 
ity  of  the  Continent,  which  must  be  doubled  before  we 
could  reach  our  much-desired  station.  The  first  week 
or  two  the  weather  was  pleasant  enough,  but  as  we  ap 
proached  the  Falkland  Islands  premonitory  symptoms 

39 


MEMORIES    OF    A    RE AR- ADMIRAL 

of  what  we  might  expect  began  to  appear.  We  passed 
through  the  Strait  of  La  Maire,  and  before  many 
days  we  were  up  with  the  Cape.  The  winds  were  gen 
erally  from  the  westward,  so  we  banged  about  for  days, 
making  but  little  headway,  being  able  to  carry  but 
short  sail,  and  not  gaining  much  on  our  course  as  the 
days  went  by.  We  were  approaching  the  Cape  Horn 
winter,  and  the  nights  were  long,  dark,  and  cold.  There 
was  but  little  to  relieve  the  gloom  and  monotony.  We 
saw  plenty  of  albatrosses  and  Cape  pigeons,  and  before 
we  reached  Valparaiso  we  caught  some  of  the  latter 
and  made  a  pie  of  them,  which  I  remember  was  uncom 
monly  good,  from  our  point  of  view,  although  the  birds 
were  fishy  and  strong,  and  hardly  fit  to  eat.  The  ward 
room  officers  had  laid  in  a  good  supply  of  Madeira  when 
we  were  at  the  Island  which  produces  it,  and  during  the 
weary  hours  of  the  first  watch  there  came  up  from 
below  a  sound  of  revelry  that  was  very  cheering,  and 
helped  to  speed  the  tedious  hours  as  we  rolled  and 
tossed  and  tumbled  about  off  the  pitch  of  the  stormy 
Cape.  I  remember  well  some  of  the  words  of  a  Cana 
dian  boat-song,  which  they  sang  night  after  night,  and 
which  made  such  an  impression  upon  my  youthful  mind 
that  I  have  never  forgotten  it.  I  never  saw  it  in  print, 
and  remember  only  the  refrain  and  a  few  lines  of  the 
song  itself.  Of  course,  without  the  air  it  loses  its  effect. 
It  went  something  in  this  way : 

"Happy  are  we,  fearless  and  free, 
Rowing  our  boat  o'er  the  deep  blue  sea. 
Ladies,  at  best,  hold  landsmen  cheap — 
Pull  away  merrily,  all  pull  cheerily. 
Beauty  smiles  on  the  sons  of  the  deep — 

Pull  away  merrily,  all  pull  cheerily. 
Happy  are  we,  fearless  and  free, 
Rowing  our  boat  o'er  the  deep  blue  sea." 
40 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  VALPARAISO 

The  Cape  was  finally  doubled,  and  we  were  fairly  on 
our  way  to  Valparaiso,  with  the  sweetest  breeze  behind 
us,  blowing  us  along  at  the  rate  of  ten  knots  or  more, 
while  the  air  was  becoming  softer  each  day  as  we  sped 
on  our  way.  The  barometer,  which  had  been  low  for 
many  days,  began  to  rise,  and  so  did  our  spirits,  for  vi 
sions  of  beefsteaks  and  onions  and  all  the  accompani 
ments  rose  vividly  before  us,  and  they  were  to  be 
within  our  reach  after  a  few  more  night-watches  had 
rolled  around.  Just  before  we  reached  port,  the  Com 
modore  killed  a  pig,  and  was  good  enough  to  send  a 
portion  of  it  to  our  mess.  It  happened  to  be  my  watch 
on  deck,  so  my  share  was  saved  for  me  until  it  was 
over.  When  I  went  below  I  found  it  waiting  me  with 
some  boiled  rice,  and  although  I  have  eaten  a  great  many 
good  dinners  since,  yet  none  have  left  such  lasting  im 
pression  upon  me  as  did  the  Commodore's  roast  pig  and 
rice.  It  was  about  the  only  fresh  grub,  except  the  Cape 
pigeons,  that  I  had  had  since  we  left  Rio.  Finally  the 
land  was  made,  we  rounded  the  Point  of  Angels,  known 
as  reef  top-sail  point,  on  account  of  the  sudden  squalls 
that  strike  ships  there,  and  came  to  anchor  in  deep  water 
in  the  Bay  of  Valparaiso. 

Valparaiso,  at  the  time  of  which  I  write,  was  perhaps 
the  largest  and  most  important  seaport  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  The  largest  mercantile  houses,  generally  in  the 
hands  of  English  and  Americans,  were  located  here, 
branches  of  which  were  to  be  found  in  Lima  as  well. 
The  most  important  were  those  of  Alsop  &  Co.  and 
Gibbs,  Crawley  &  Co.  To  the  former  firm  belonged 
Mr.  George  Hobson,  of  whom  Americans  might  justly 
be  proud.  He  lived  in  very  handsome  style,  and  alto 
gether  did  great  credit  to  the  country  of  which  he  was 
an  honored  citizen.  He  had  several  charming  daugh- 

41 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

ters,  who  were  great  belles  amongst  the  officers,  and  one 
of  them,  Hepsy,  afterwards  married  Eeed  Werden,  who 
died  as  a  Rear- Admiral  on  the  retired  list.  I  have  been 
very  intimate  with  "Werden  and  his  wife,  and  enter 
tained  a  very  high  regard  for  them  both.  The  Admiral 
died  a  few  years  ago.  Mrs.  Werden  is  still  living.  I 
have  had  many  pleasant  talks  with  her  about  the  old 
days  in  Valparaiso.  She  passed  all  of  her  girlhood  there, 
and  had  a  very  extensive  acquaintance  with  Naval  offi 
cers,  so  many  of  whom  had  from  time  to  time  touched 
at  that  port.  We  did  not  remain  long  in  harbor,  and  in 
a  few  days  got  under  way  for  Callao.  The  S.  E.  trade- 
winds  prevail  along  the  coast  of  Chili  and  Peru,  so  we 
were  not  many  days  making  the  passage.  The  weather 
was  fine,  and  every  one  was  glad  at  the  prospect  of 
reaching  the  headquarters  of  the  Station,  which  Callao 
was  at  that  time.  There  was  our  store-ship,  and  it  was 
there  that  the  Squadron  assembled  from  time  to  time,  to 
take  on  board  provisions  and  stores.  Upon  our  arrival 
we  found  a  portion  of  the  Pacific  Squadron  at  anchor 
in  the  harbor ;  the  Cyane,  the  St.  Louis,  the  schooner 
Shark,  and  the  store-ship  .Relief  were  amongst  them. 
The  Yorktown  and  Dale  we- 'a- off  somewhere  on  a  cruise. 
The  vessels  that  I  have  named  comprised  the  Squadron. 
It  was  not  a  bad  showing  o^a  Naval  force  in  those  dis 
tant  seas,  considering  that  the  nation,  since  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  was  only  about  fifty  years  old, 
but  there  was  a  growing  American  commerce  at  that 
time,  and  the  whaling  interests  on  the  Pacific  were 
large.  Besides  that,  California  was  looked  upon  with 
envious  eyes,  both  by  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  so,  after  all,  the  force  was  none  too  strong. 

Callao  is  the  seaport  of  Lima,  about  six  miles  distant 
from  that  city.     At  the  time  about  which  I  write,  it 

43 


GAMBLING    AT    CALLAO 

contained  but  few  inhabitants,  and  these  were  near 
ly  all  connected  with  commerce  and  shipping  interests, 
in  one  way  and  another.  There  were  two  hotels  in  the 
place,  and  any  one  who  happened  to  be  in  Callao  in 
1842  will  probably  remember,  as  he  stepped  on  to  the 
landing  from  his  boat,  a  large  sign  that  appeared  be 
fore  him,  with  these  words  upon  it,  "  Marine  Hotel,  by 
Zuderell."  It  was  a  famous  resort  in  those  days  for  the 
officers  of  the  Squadron.  Zuderell  was  a  Frenchman,  a 
handsome,  well-dressed  fellow,  and  polite  as  a  dancing- 
master.  He  gave  very  nice  dinners,  and  when  he  wished 
to  be  especially  polite  to  any  one  he  would  say,  "  Dine 
with  me  to-day;  I  engage  you"  -which  meant  that 
you  were  not  to  pay  for  your  dinner.  Every  night 
there  was  gambling  at  his  establishment,  which  was  al 
ways  conducted  in  a  most  orderly  way,  for  all  improper 
persons  were  excluded  from  his  house.  The  game  that 
was  played  there  I  have  never.-  seen  anywhere  else. 
There  was  a  green  cloth  on^he  table,  crossed  in  the 
centre  by  two  white  lines  at  right  angles  with  each 
other.  In  the  alternate  angles  were  marked  the  letters 
A  and  S.  The  A's  were  opposite  each  other,  and  the  S's 
opposite  in  the  same  way.-' \fphe  banker  threw  a  pair  of 
dice  from  his  hand,  and  ce$ta'in  figures  of  what  turned 
up  were  for  the  A's,  and  certain  others  were  for  the  S's. 
Of  course,  when  one  lettelr  won,  the  other  lost.  Around 
the  table  could  be  seen,  almost  any  night,  officers  of  the 
Navy  of  all  nations,  from  Midshipmen  up  well  into  the 
higher  grades.  Occasionally  there  would  be  a  difficulty 
between  two  of  the  players,  but  such  things  were  very 
rare.  I  remember  one  night  a  Midshipman,  a  friend  of 
mine,  who  had  probably  been  drinking,  as  he  was  great 
ly  addicted  to  that  vice,  snapped  a  pistol  at  the  head  of 
one  of  the  players.  Fortunately,  it  did  not  go  off.  My 

43 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

friend  expressed  to  me  afterwards  his  great  delight  that 
the  result  was  not  serious.  Had  the  pistol  gone  off,  he 
probably  would  have  killed  the  man,  and  saddened  his 
own  life  for  ever.  The  poor  fellow  of  whom  I  speak 
became  a  drunkard,  was  out  of  the  Navy  and  back 
again  several  times,  but  I  believe  the  habit  became  so 
confirmed  that  he  never  could  conquer  it.  There  was 
another  house  of  good  cheer,  which  any  old  Pacific 
cruiser  of  those  days  will  remember.  I  do  not  know 
that  it  had  any  name  but  "  Davy  HowelPs."  It  was 
kept  by  Davy,  who  married  a  Spanish  wife  about  three 
times  his  size.  I  can  see  her  now,  after  a  lapse  of  fifty 
years,  hustling  about  the  house,  and  carrying  things 
with  a  high  hand,  while  Davy  himself  was  always  meek 
and  humble,  and  dared  not  say  that  his  soul  was  his  own 
in  the  presence  of  Isodora.  This  establishment  was  more 
a  resort  for  merchant  Captains  and  Mates  than  for  Na 
val  officers,  but  I  well  remember  how,  when  I  was  Mid 
shipman  of  the  market-boat,  I  would  go  there  and  get  a 
most  delicious  cup  of  coffee  and  toasted  French  rolls. 
Truly  there  are  some  things  one  never  forgets,  trifling 
as  they  may  be,  and,  in  my  case,  this  is  one  of  them. 
There  were  an  abundance  of  grog-shops  for  sailors,  and 
a  few  little  thread-and-needle  stores;  but  what  I  have 
mentioned  above  was  about  all  there  was  of  Callao  in 
those  days. 

The  Commander -in -Chief,  immediately  after  our  ar 
rival,  gave  orders  to  the  Fleet  to  provision  and  water 
ship,  and  prepare  for  sea.  The  most  experienced  of  the 
Midshipmen  were  placed  in  charge  of  the  large  boats 
of  the  Frigate,  which  were  filled  with  water-casks  and 
despatched  to  the  mole,  day  after  day,  until  the  wa 
tering  was  completed.  I  mention  the  watering  on 
this  occasion  because  of  an  ingenious  way  of  smuggling 

44 


HOW    MEN-OF-WAR'S    MEN    GOT    LIQUOR 

liquor  on  board,  that  Jack  had  discovered  as  the  work 
proceeded.  It  seems  that  the  water  was  conveyed  to 
the  mole  through  pipes.  The  fountain-head,  which  I 
believe  was  a  receiver  that  was  filled  by  a  pump  served 
by  the  men,  was  some  distance  from  the  mole.  When 
there  was  a  sufficient  head  of  water  in  the  receiver, 
Jacky  would  place  a  small  skin  (intestine),  filled  with 
liquor,  in  the  upper  part  of  the  pipe,  whence  it  would 
be  conveyed  by  the  water  rushing  through  to  the  mole. 
The  Jacky  in  the  boat,  being  in  collusion  with  those  at 
the  upper  end,  would  feel  it  as  it  passed  through  the 
canvas  hose  which  led  from  the  mole  end  of  the  pipe 
into  the  cask  in  the  boat.  The  cask  was  then  marked, 
and  the  other  Jacky  on  board,  who  was  striking  the 
water  below,  and  who  was  also  in  collusion  with  the 
others,  would  thus  know  where  to  look  for  it.  So,  in 
this  way,  they  managed  to  get  a  good  deal  of  liquor  on 
board  before  the  trick  was  discovered.  Men  -  of  -  war's 
men,  in  those  days,  would  resort  to  the  most  ingenious 
devices  to  get  liquor.  In  a  ship  in  which  I  served  dur 
ing  the  War,  before  the  spirit  ration  had  been  discontin 
ued,  it  seemed  that  the  men  of  the  Engineer  Depart 
ment  were  getting  drunk  in  the  most  unaccountable 
manner,  and  as  there  was  no  way,  at  the  time  to  which 
I  refer,  of  getting  liquor  from  the  shore,  an  examination 
of  the  spirit -room  was  made,  when  it  was  discovered 
that  a  large  cask  filled  with  whiskey  butted  up  against 
an  iron  bulkhead  (partition)  which  separated  the  spirit- 
room  from  the  engine-room.  The  men  in  the  last-men 
tioned  place  were  smart  enough  to  inform  themselves 
of  this  fact.  They  drilled  a  hole  through  the  iron,  and 
then  through  the  cask,  and  then  inserted  a  faucet  into 
the  cask.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  they  had  many  a 
good  spree  before  the  clever  trick  was  discovered. 

45 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

While  on  this  subject,  I  think  it  will  not  be  out  of 
place  to  mention  an  occurrence  which  took  place  in  Nor 
folk,  while  we  were  getting  the  whiskey  on  board  for 
the  outward-bound  cruise.  At  such  times  unusual  vigi 
lance  is  practised,  and  every  safeguard  possible,  to  pre 
vent  the  men  from  getting  possession  of  any  of  it,  is 
made  use  of  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place  where  it  is  being 
handled.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  notwithstanding  all 
these  precautions,  some  clever  Jackies  managed  to  roll 
a  barrel  forward.  It  was  late  in  the  day,  and  no  results 
appeared  until  after  dark.  Then  such  a  bedlam  broke 
loose  as  it  is  difficult  to  imagine.  Nearly  every  man 
forward  of  the  main -mast  seemed  to  be  drunk.  The 
Executive  Officer,  and,  indeed,  all  the  officers,  were 
obliged  to  rush  forward  and  knock  down  and  drag  out 
until  a  scene  of  debauchery  such  as  I  have  rarely  wit 
nessed  could  be  controlled ;  and  yet  the  contents  of  the 
barrel  had  not  all  been  consumed.  Under  the  guns 
and  on  the  berth-deck  were  found  quantities  of  whis 
key  in  buckets  and  tin  pots,  which  were  captured  and 
put  in  places  of  safety.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
the  Frigate  had  a  crew  of  five  hundred  men.  Many  of 
them  were  so  drunk  that  they  gave  no  trouble,  but 
others  had  to  be  roughly  handled  and  ironed,  so  that 
they  could  do  no  harm  to  themselves  or  any  one  else. 
It  was  a  scene  never  to  be  forgotten,  and  such  a  one  as, 
I  fancy,  has  rarely  occurred  on  board  a  ship  of  war.  By 
ten  o'clock  everything  had  quieted  down  without  any 
serious  results,  although  at  one  time  it  did  look  bad 
enough.  The  next  morning,  when  the  day  of  reckon 
ing  came,  there  were  so  many  prisoners  that  it  was 
thought  better  to  condone  the  whole  thing;  so  Jack 
had  his  spree  and  went  unpunished. 

While  the  Frigate  remained  at  Callao  we  were  all  per- 

46 


LIMA    FIFTY    YEARS    AGO 

mitted  to  have  a  run  to  Lima.  I  do  not  remember  that 
there  was  any  mode  of  transportation  at  that  time  ex 
cept  on  horseback.  Short  as  the  distance  was  between 
the  Port  and  the  City,  the  route  was  infested  by  high 
waymen,  so  that  the  trip  was  attended  with  considerable 
risk.  However,  our  party  made  the  journey  there  and 
back  unmolested.  Lima,  at  the  time  to  which  I  refer, 
was  one  of  the  most  considerable  cities  of  South  Ameri 
ca.  It  was  beautifully  situated  on  a  vast  plain,  and  in 
the  distance  could  be  seen  the  snow-clad  Cordilleras 
towering  thousands  of  feet  towards  the  sky.  Through 
the  city,  passing  in  the  middle  of  the  streets,  a  limpid, 
sparkling  stream  rushed  rapidly  by  on  its  way  to  the 
sea.  The  to\vn  seemed  clean,  and  well-built  in  the 
Spanish  style.  The  houses,  at  most,  are  only  two  stories 
high,  built  in  order  to  eliminate  as  much  as  possible  the 
danger  from  earthquakes,  which  had  been  very  destruc 
tive  in  Peru ;  so  much  so  that  Callao  was  at  one  time 
almost  entirely  submerged.  Lima  has  not  kept  pace  with 
the  other  important  cities  of  South  America ;  it  has  been 
torn  for  a  century  and  more  by  internal  dissensions,  and 
I  presume  has  been  a  prey  to  revolutions  from  its  in 
fancy.  The  War  with  Chili  was  a  tremendous  blow  to 
its  progress,  from  which  it  has  never  recovered ;  and  its 
unstable  government,  that  seems  the  normal  condition, 
will,  unless  a  radical  change  takes  place,  be  a  constant 
impediment  to  the  City's  growth  and  to  the  progress 
and  advancement  of  the  people.  The  hotel  at  which  the 
American  officers  generally  put  up  was  the  Bolo  de  Oro. 
It  will  be  remembered  by  any  one  who  visited  Lima  in 
1842  as  the  best-known  house  of  entertainment.  The 
fare  was  good  enough,  but  the  beds  were  infested  with 
fleas — indeed,  one  might  say  that  every  bed  in  South 
America  at  that  time  was  in  the  same  condition.  I  have 

47 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

slept  in  a  great  many  of  them  in  the  course  of  my  life, 
and  have  always  found  that  to  be  the  case. 

The  Squadron  was  now  prepared  for  sea,  and  one  fine 
morning  the  Commodore  made  signal  to  weigh,  and  the 
ships  formed  in  column,  the  flag-ship  in  advance.  We 
were  close-hauled,  and,  as  we  were  going  to  Valparaiso, 
which  was  to  windward,  were  by  the  wind  during  nearly 
the  whole  passage.  We  finally  reached  there,  after  a 
voyage  of  nearly  a  month.  Ships  going  from  Callao 
to  Valparaiso  haul  by  the  wind,  on  port  tack,  with 
the  southeast  trades,  and  remain  on  that  tack  until 
they  reach  "the  variables,"  about  the  latitude  of  Val 
paraiso,  and  to  westward  of  the  Island  of  Juan  Fer 
nandez,  or  Eobinson  Crusoe's  Island ;  there  they  pick 
up  a  strong  westerly  wind,  and  boom  along  towards 
Valparaiso  at  their  best  speed.  With  us  it  was  from 
eleven  to  twelve  knots,  which  was  fast  for  those  days ; 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Frigate  United 
States  was  the  greyhound  of  the  Navy  at  that  time, 
and  sustained  her  reputation  for  many  years.  The 
Squadron  remained  in  and  about  Valparaiso  long  enough 
to  give  the  men  "liberty,"  as  leave  to  go  on  shore  was 
then  called.  Jack  had  not  much  indulgence  of  this  kind 
at  the  time  about  which  I  write,  for  he  was  always  a 
drunkard  then,  and  during  the  time  of  the  liberty-giving 
the  ship  was  necessarily  in  a  state  of  more  or  less  dis 
organization.  It  is  all  changed  now,  and  Jack  can 
go  on  shore,  and  behave  decently,  and  come  back  with 
his  clothes  on,  which  was  not  the  case  in  those  days,  for 
he  almost  always  sold  his  jacket  before  he  returned  to 
the  ship.  He  was  very  much  given  to  overstaying  his 
leave,  and  we  youngsters  would  be  sent  on  shore  with 
our  swords  buckled  to  our  sides  to  bring  him  on  board. 
If  he  was  disposed  to  be  amiable,  he  would  come  with 

48 


PREPARING    FOR    WAR   WITH    MEXICO 

us;  if  not,  he  would  resist.  It  was  a  curious  sight  to  see 
a  boy  of  sixteen  managing,  and  often  with  great  skill,  a 
six-feet  sailor  large  enough  to  eat  him  up.  We  remained 
but  a  short  time  at  Valparaiso,  and  then  got  under  way 
for  Coquimbo,  when  liberty  was  given  to  those  of  the 
crew  who  did  not  get  on  shore  at  the  former  place.  We 
had  a  good  deal  of  trouble  in  getting  them  back,  for 
they  strayed  off  to  Serena,  an  inland  town,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  send  our  police  force  after  them  before  they 
would  return.  We  sailed  from  Coquimbo  for  Callao,  and 
arrived  there  in  the  usual  time,  which,  as  the  southeast 
trade-winds  blow  continually,  is  about  a  week. 

Soon  after  our  arrival  the  Commodore  issued  orders 
for  the  Squadron  again  to  prepare  for  sea  for  a  cruise  to 
the  northward.  About  this  time  the  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico  were  very  much  strained. 
Commodore  Jones  had  seen  in  some  newspaper  a  corre 
spondence  between  those  high  in  authority  in  both  coun 
tries,  of  such  a  character  that  he  felt  sure  that  war  must 
inevitably  follow.  His  mind  was  soon  made  up.  The 
first  blow  to  be  struck  on  this  coast  must  be  the  seizure 
of  California ;  and  to  that  end  he  bent  all  his  energies 
for  the  next  two  months.  The  flag-ship,  as  well  as  I  can 
remember,  took  the  Cyane  and  Dale  in  company,  and 
we  all  sailed  away  together  for  far-off  California,  which 
it  took  us  many  days  to  reach.  We  were  constantly  ex 
ercising,  on  our  way  up,  and  getting  ourselves  in  the 
best  possible  trim  for  war.  I  remember  that  some  of  the 
Midshipmen  gave  so  keen  an  edge  to  their  cutlasses  that 
one  could  almost  shave  with  them.  We  never  knew  the 
object  of  the  expedition  upon  which  we  were  -bound 
until  we  reached  the  coast  of  California.  One  morn 
ing,  with  a  fresh  top-gallant  breeze,  the  Frigate  United 
States  and  the  Sloop  Cyane  swooped  down  upon  two  Mex- 
D  49 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

lean  merchantmen,  that  were  bound  to  sea  from  Mon 
terey,  and  we  knew  that  some  kind  of  a  war  had  be 
gun.  We  stood  into  the  Bay  of  Monterey  under  Eng 
lish  colors,  turned  the  merchant  vessels  back,  and  they 
were  for  the  time  prizes  to  our  ships. 

And  now  the  war  began  in  earnest.  We  came  to  an 
chor  in  the  harbor,  a  mimic  army  was  at  once  organized, 
and  we  proceeded  immediately  to  take  possession  of  the 
place.  The  army  was  marched  on  shore,  advanced  up 
the  hill  to  the  Fort,  and,  finding  it  abandoned,  we  hauled 
down  the  Mexican  flag  which  was  left  there  flying  when 
the  garrison  evacuated,  and  hoisted  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
in  its  place.  I  was  one  of  the  army  of  occupation,  and 
the  prospect  of  a  little  soldiering  in  a  foreign  land  was  a 
most  pleasing  anticipation ;  but,  alas,  after  we  had  been 
there  one  night,  and  had  had  the  excitement  of  the  long 
roll,  as  a  strange  dog  came  within  our  lines,  we  were  or 
dered  on  the  day  following  the  occupation  to  fold  our 
tents,  lash  up  our  hammocks,  and  then  to  proceed  down 
the  same  hill  which,  twenty-four  hours  before,  we  had 
marched  up  so  gayly,  with  colors  flying  and  drums  beat 
ing,  in  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war. 
It  seems  that  the  Commodore  went  on  shore,  after  hav 
ing  disembarked  his  army,  and  had  a  consultation  with 
the  American  Consul  and  the  select-men  of  the  town. 
Another  newspaper  was  produced,  so  different  in  tone 
from  that  which  had  caused  the  war,  that  peace  was  im 
mediately  proclaimed,  and  the  army  of  occupation  or 
dered  back  to  the  ships.  It  was  a  bold  dash  on  the  part 
of  Jones,  but  hardly  a  wise  one.  Of  course  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  was  obliged  to  give  satisfac 
tion  to  that  of  Mexico,  so  the  Commodore  was  recalled 
and  relieved  from  his  command.  The  citizens  of  Mon 
terey  were  of  course  very  much  alarmed  at  this  raid 

50 


CAPTAIN    COOPER 

upon  their  town,  and  most  of  them  fled  to  the  country. 
It  was  not  without  a  good  deal  of  persuasion  that  they 
consented  to  return,  especially  the  women,  who  were 
dreadfully  frightened  at  this  unexpected  descent  upon 
their  quiet  and  unoffending  homes.  I  think  they  were 
very  much  influenced  to  look  more  favorably  upon  us  by 
Captain  Cooper,  who  married  a  Californian  woman.  He 
had  become  domesticated  here  years  before,  and  had 
been  Captain  of  a  whaler,  or  an  American  craft  of  some 
kind,  before  he  finally  settled  down  in  California. 


CHAPTER  V 

Winter  in  Monterey — Father  Junipero— At  the  Sandwich  Islands — 
Trip  to  Mauna  Loa — Lively  Times  in  Honolulu. 

THE  Commodore  now  determined  to  remain  in  Mon 
terey  for  the  winter.  It  was  the  winter  of  1842-1843. 
The  people  became  very  friendly,  and  many  a  dance 
and  jolly  time  did  we  have  at  their  houses.  Indeed,  it 
was  a  grand  thing  for  us  Midshipmen,  this  sojourn  at 
Monterey,  for  the  girls  taught  us  how  to  dance,  and 
nearly  all  took  advantage  of  our  opportunities.  My 
especial  instructress  was  Anita  Cooper,  the  daughter  of 
the  Captain  to  whom  I  have  referred  above.  We  never 
could  get  the  girls  to  go  on  board  ship ;  the  custom  of 
the  country  would  not  permit  them  to  go  without  their 
mothers  or  duennas,  who  were,  I  presume,  afraid  of  sea 
sickness,  for  there  was  almost  always  more  or  less  mo 
tion  in  Monterey  Bay.  The  old  people  were  always 
glad  to  have  us  at  their  houses,  and  there  was  a  public 
room  where  we  would  often  meet  quite  informally  and 
have  a  dance.  The  favorite  dance  was  the  contradanza, 
made  up  of  a  great  many  figures,  more  than  I  have  ever 
seen  anywhere  else.  The  country -dance,  as  it  is  some 
times  called,  is  not  uncommon  in  other  parts  of  the  world, 
but  I  have  never  seen  it  danced  with  so  much  grace  as  it 
was  by  these  simple  children  of  California.  There  were 
other  Spanish  dances  which  I  had  never  seen  or  heard 
of  before.  Any  one  who  happened  to  be  in  California 
in  those  days,  and  who  went  at  all  into  the  primitive 

52 


BUYING    HIDES    FROM    CALIFORNIANS 

society  of  the  country,  will  remember  with  how  much 
grace  and  ease  they  would  dance  the  Jota  and  the  Ja- 
rabe  dances,  which  were  peculiar  to  California. 

The  trade  in  hides,  so  graphically  described  by  Dana 
in  his  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast,  came  to  a  close  a 
short  time  before  the  period  of  which  I  am  now  writ 
ing.  It  will  be  .remembered  by  those  who  have  read 
that  most  interesting  work  that  the  Boston  ships  that 
came  to  that  coast  in  search  of  hides  and  tallow  were 
fitted  as  stores,  with  regular  counters  like  a  dry-goods 
store  on  shore,  where  anything  could  be  purchased  from 
a  cart-wheel  to  a  penny  whistle.  While  the  crews  of  the 
ships  would  be  on  shore  curing  their  hides  and  prepar 
ing  them  for  shipment  to  the  United  States,  the  Su 
percargo  and  his  aids  would  be  selling  goods  over  the 
counter  on  board  ship  to  such  customers  as  would  care  to 
purchase  them ;  and  there  were  many  to  whom  it  was  a 
great  accommodation,  for  these  ships  contained  amongst 
other  things  the  wearing  apparel  of  ladies,  such  as  it 
was  difficult  to  find  in  that  far-distant  land,  and  they 
would  often  be  thronged  with  these  fair  Californian 
dames,  who  were  getting  what  they  wished  in  ex 
change  for  the  hides  which  their  husbands  and  fathers 
had  sold  to  the  Boston  Yankees.  There  were  no 
butchers  in  Monterey,  so  every  day  one  of  us  Mid 
shipmen  accompanied  the  ships'  butchers  to  the  sham 
bles,  to  which  point  a  couple  of  bullocks  were  brought, 
and  there  we  would  pass  the  afternoon.  The  purpose 
of  our  presence  was  to  see  that  the  butchers  behaved 
themselves  properly,  and  did  not  stray  away  or  get 
drunk  while  at  their  work.  We  all  thought  it  a  sort 
of  lark,  and  a  pleasant  way  to  pass  the  afternoon. 
If,  by  any  chance,  our  charge  happened  to  drink  too 
much,  as  they  sometimes  did,  in  spite  of  all  our  vig- 

53 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

ilance,  it  was  all  the  worse  for  us  on  our  return  on 
board. 

The  winter  was  passing  away,  and  the  salt  provisions 
of  the  Squadron  were  getting  short.  As  long  as  we 
could  remain  at  Monterey,  there  was  an  abundance  of 
fresh  beef,  but  the  time  was  coming  for  a  renewal  of 
our  cruising,  and  it  was  necessary  to  look  to  the  future. 
There  were  plenty  of  salt  provisions  at  Honolulu,  so  the 
Commodore  shifted  his  flag  to  the  Cyane,  and  sent  the 
Frigate  to  that  point,  to  fill  up  with  all  she  could  store 
and  return  to  Monterey.  In  less  than  thirty  days  we 
were  back  again,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  every 
one.  It  was  thought  it  would  take  us  nearly  sixty 
days,  and  when  we  were  seen  standing  in  the  bay  it 
was  thought  something  had  happened  to  us,  and  that 
we  were  returning  without  having  accomplished  the  pur 
pose  for  which  we  were  sent.  It  was  the  quickest  trip 
on  record  at  the  time,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  any 
sailing-ship  has  ever  made  better  time  since. 

Upon  the  site  of  the  old  fort  which  we  had  recently 
so  ingloriously  captured  stands,  at  the  present  time,  a 
statue  of  Father  Junipero,  modelled  out  of  a  solid  block 
of  granite.  The  figure  of  the  Reverend  Father  stands 
on  the  bow  of  his  boat  with  its  arm  outstretched,  grasp 
ing  in  its  hand  a  Cross,  emblematic  of  his  mission  to 
that  distant  part  of  the  world. 

In  1769,  Father  Miguel  Jose  Serra  Junipero  was  ap 
pointed  Superior  of  a  band  of  Franciscan  Priests,  who 
were  sent  to  California  to  take  charge  of  the  Missions 
in  that  country.  After  encountering  many  obstacles, 
he  reached  San  Diego  on  the  16th  of  July,  1769,  where 
he  founded  his  first  Mission.  He  afterwards  went  to 
Monterey  and  founded  the  Mission  of  St.  Carlos,  on  the 
3d  of  June,  1770.  He  then  travelled  over  all  California, 

54 


CALIFORNIA    PACIFIED 

founding  Missions  and  making  many  converts  to  Chris 
tianity.  Finally  he  returned  to  Monterey  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1783,  and  from  that  time  his  health  rapidly 
declined. 

The  monument  to  which  I  have  referred  was  erected 
by  the  bounty  of  Mrs.  Stanford,  of  California,  as  a  fit 
ting  tribute  to  one  who,  one  hundred  years  before,  had 
been  such  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  country  which  af 
terwards  became  her  home. 

Our  work  in  California  was  now  accomplished.  The 
people  seemed  to  have  forgotten  that  we  came  there 
with  hostile  intent,  and  nothing  could  exceed  the  friend 
ly  feeling  that  existed  between  us  and  the  Californians. 
We  remained  long  enough  to  bring  about  this  state  of 
things,  and  now  it  was  time  to  go.  It  is  very  difficult 
for  me,  after  the  long  interval  of  time,  to  remember  the 
disposition  of  the  Fleet  after  we  left  the  coast  of  Cali 
fornia,  and  I  am  a  little  at  a  loss  to  remember  exactly 
where  we  went,  immediately,  in  the  Flag-ship;  but  my 
impression  is  that  we  touched  at  Mazatlan,  en  route  to  Cal- 
lao,  where  we  arrived  after  a  passage  of  fifty  or  sixty  days. 
As  I  was  in  the  Pacific  on  this  my  first  cruise  about 
five  years,  and  served  in  three  different  vessels,  I  am  a 
good  deal  confused  about  places  and  dates.  To  some  of 
the  ports  I  went  so  often  that  I  am  sometimes  mixed 
in  my  mind  as  to  whether  events  which  come  up  before 
me  occurred  when  I  was  attached  to  one  ship  or  anoth 
er  ;  and  as  I  write  from  memory,  and  am  trying  to  re 
late  incidents  which  occurred  more  than  fifty  years  ago, 
I  must  be  pardoned  if  the  narrative  seems  from  time  to 
time  confusing  to  the  reader,  as  Tvell  as  to  me. 

Upon  arrival  at  Callao  from  our  northern  expedition, 
we  immediately  made  preparations  for  a  cruise  amongst 
the  South  Sea  Islands.  We  first  went  to  Honolulu ;  I 

55 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

do  not  remember  if  it  was  before  we  started  or  after 
the  cruise  to  the  Islands  had  begun  that  information 
reached  us  that  Commodore  Dallas  was  ordered  out  to 
relieve  Commodore  Jones.  At  all  events,  we  were  to 
be  absent  from  the  coast  for  some  time,  and  it  would  be 
no  easy  matter  for  the  new  Commodore  to  catch  us; 
indeed,  it  did  look  very  much  as  if  we  were  running 
away  from  him.  I  remember  one  day,  as  we  were  roll 
ing  along  with  a  fine  breeze  after  us,  we  carried  away 
the  maintop  -  gallant  -  mast,  when  the  broad  pennant 
came  down  by  the  run,  and  Lieutenant  Avery  remarked 
that  it  had  been  kept  up  ~by  the  run  for  some  time.  We 
reached  the  Sandwich  Islands,  after  a  passage  of  about 
forty  days.  We  first  went  to  Byron's  Bay,  where  the 
town  of  Hilo  is  situated,  and  came  to  anchor  quite  close 
inshore.  Everything  was  very  green  and  beautiful,  and 
towering  over  our  heads  was  the  great  volcano  of  Mauna 
Loa.  Close  to  the  town  was  a  charming  waterfall,  and 
a  fresh-water  stream,  which  was  the  favorite  bathing- 
place  of  the  Kanaka  girls,  who  were  like  ducks  in  the 
water,  and  would  jump  from  fearful  heights  into  the 
boiling,  tumbling  waters  beneath  the  falls.  We  found, 
after  our  arrival,  that  Lord  George  Paulet,  Command 
ing  H.M.S.  Carysfort,  was  at  the  Islands.  It  seems 
he  had  some  difficulty  with  the  authorities,  and,  like 
our  Jones  in  California,  took  temporary  possession  of 
the  country.  He  removed  all  the  taboos,  which  pro 
duced  a  good  deal  of  demoralization  amongst  the  na 
tives,  and  undid  for  the  time  much  of  the  good  work 
that  the  missionaries  had  done.  He  soon  discovered, 
however,  that  he  had  made  a  mistake,  and  restored  the 
Islands  to  their  proper  owners.  At  the  head  of  the 
missions  at  Hilo  was  the  Eeverend  Mr.  Coan.  He 
seemed  to  be  an  excellent  man,  and  no  doubt  had  the 

56 


VISIT    TO    MAUNA    LOA 

interest  of  the  natives  entirely  at  heart.  Mr.  Coan  was 
of  great  assistance  to  us  in  fitting  out  our  expedition  to 
visit  the  great  volcano.  He  came  on  board  one  Sunday 
and  took  the  place  of  the  Chaplain,  and,  although  more 
than  fifty  years  have  elapsed  since,  I  remember  the 
text  to  this  day ;  it  was,  "  The  Law  of  the  Lord  is  per 
fect." 

Permission  was  granted  to  as  many  of  us  as  could  be 
spared  to  join  the  party  that  was  making  up  for  a  visit 
to  the  Volcano  of  Mauna  Loa,  one  of  the  greatest  natu 
ral  curiosities  in  the  world.  So  much  has  been  written 
about  it  and  its  various  eruptions  by  Mr.  Coan  himself 
that  I  feel  that  I  could  add  very  little  to  what  has  al 
ready  been  said.  Our  expedition  consisted  of  about 
thirty  people  and  about  the  same  number  of  horses. 
Most  of  the  white  people  had  horses,  although  some 
preferred  to  walk,  while  the  Kanakas,  one  of  whom  was 
told  off  to  each  of  us,  were  all  on  foot.  They  carried 
immense  calabashes  in  which  were  stored  a  change  of 
linen  for  us,  and  such  other  articles  as^we  were  obliged 
to  take  along.  We  made  a  gay-looking  caravan  as  we 
emerged  from  the  little  village  of  Hilo.  After  proceed 
ing  some  hours  we  came  to  a  halt  for  rest  at  a  mission- 
school,  where  we  refreshed  ourselves,  and  then  contin 
ued  our  journey  to  the  edge  of  the  great  crater,  where 
we  arrived  about  nightfall.  "We  had  only  time  to  get 
a  view  of  the  magnificent  scenery  that  was  spread  out 
before  us,  and  see  the  lurid  light  away  down  in  the 
crater,  before  darkness  set  in,  when  we  made  our  dis 
positions  for  the  night.  As  the  darkness  increased,  the 
great  seething,  boiling,  heaving  mass  of  molten  lava,  as 
it  rushed  about  the  great  lake  of  fire,  grew  brighter  and 
brighter  until  the  whole  heavens  were  illuminated  with 
a  brilliant  red  light,  that,  combined  with  what  I  have 

57 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

just  mentioned,  produced  a  scene  exceedingly  beautiful. 
"We  gazed  upon  it  until  the  fatigue  we  had  undergone 
admonished  us  that  we  had  better  turn  into  such  beds 
as  we  could  improvise.  They  were  rough  enough,  but 
we  were  young,  and  could  put  up  with  almost  anything. 

We  made  an  early  start,  and  did  all  the  exploring 
that  was  possible  in  the  one  day  that  we  had  allowed 
ourselves  to  be  in  the  crater.  We  could  not  approach 
very  close  to  the  molten  lake,  but  there  were  little 
streams  flowing  into  it  to  which  we  could  get  close 
enough  to  insert  our  walking-staifs  and  bring  out  pieces 
of  lava  which  would  harden  on  the  end  of  the  sticks. 
It  was  a  grand  and  rare  sight  to  see  this  lake  of  liquid 
fire,  its  waves  rushing  from  side  to  side  with  no  regular 
motion,  but  meeting  each  other  and  producing  a  jet  of 
lava  which  would  rush  many  feet  into  the  air  with  an 
indescribable  bang  and  roar.  After  we  had  made  our 
selves  tired  and  weary  with  seeing  and  exploring,  we 
were  glad  enough  to  return  to  our  camp  on  the  edge 
of  the  great  crater  and  enjoy  our  supper,  after  which 
we  turned  in  for  the  night.  The  next  morning  we 
started  back  for  Hilo,  thoroughly  satisfied  with  our 
most  interesting  and  instructive  expedition.  We  re 
mained  after  our  trip  but  a  short  time  in  Byron's  Bay. 
We  got  under  way  from  there  early  in  the  morning  of 
the  day  upon  which  we  sailed,  and  with  a  fresh  trade- 
wind  rushed  through  the  Islands,  passing  Lanai  about 
mid -day,  and,  as  we  were  making  about  twelve  knots 
an  hour,  we  reached  Oahu  and  anchored  off  Honolulu 
before  dark. 

The  Constellation,  with  Commodore  Kearny,  was  at 
the  Islands  with  us.  She  was  the  Flag-ship  of  the  East 
India  Station,  as  it  was  then  called,  on  her  way  home 
by  way  of  Cape  Horn,  having  gone  out  by  way  of  Good 

58 


A    LARGE    BALL    AT    HONOLULU 

Hope,  thus  making  the  voyage  around  the  world.  The 
United  States  and  Constellation  drew  too  much  water  to 
enter  the  inner  harbor,  and  the  anchorage  outside  of 
the  reef  was  a  rough  place  to  lie.  To  get  from  there 
to  the  shore  was  a  long  and  weary  pull.  The  Cyane 
was  lying  inside,  so  altogether  it  seemed  like  a  large 
force  for  our  little  Navy  in  that  far-distant  land.  The 
presence  of  so  many  officers  made  it  gay  for  Honolulu, 
and  the  town  was  painted  red  many  times  while  we  were 
there  together.  The  Constellation  made  quite  a  stay  in 
port  after  her  long  passage  across,  and  her  officers  had 
received  a  good  deal  of  hospitality.  They  gave  a  large 
and  handsome  ball  in  appreciation  of  the  kindnesses 
they  had  received,  to  which  all  Honolulu  was  invited. 
It  was  a  most  exciting  event  for  us  youngsters,  who  had 
been  so  much  at  sea  that  a  large  ball  was  a  great  nov 
elty,  and  those  of  us  who  went  enjoyed  it  immensely. 
There  were  but  few  young  girls  in  Honolulu  at  that 
time — I  mean  few  besides  the  natives,  who  could  hardly 
be  said  to  be  society  girls  at  that  period  in  the  history 
of  Hawaii ;  but  there  were  there  a  number  of  interest 
ing  married  women,  who  were  representatives  of  all 
nations,  and,  as  I  remember,  they  made  an  excellent  ap 
pearance.  At  all  events,  it  made  that  impression  upon 
my  youthful  mind,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  ball 
was  a  very  handsome  affair.  I  remember  a  nice-looking 
girl  to  whom  my  attention  was  called  by  Temple,  who 
recently  died  as  a  Rear- Admiral.  He  informed  me  that 
she  was  the  only  spinster  in  the  room.  I  looked  at  her 
with  wonder  and  admiration,  but  I  doubt  whether  I 
knew  in  those  days  what  a  spinster  was.  Any  one  who 
was  in  Honolulu  during  the  year  of  1843  will  remem 
ber  the  charming  little  hotel  in  existence  at  that  time, 
the  proprietors  of  which  were  jolly  Fred  Thompson  and 

59 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Mr.  Carter,  both  well-known  names  in  Honolulu  in  those 
days.  The  whole  community  was  indebted  to  them  for 
the  only  public-house  that  existed  at  that  time. 

Honolulu  always  was,  and  always  will  be,  one  of  the 
most  attractive  places  in  the  world.  The  climate  is  de 
licious.  Life  is  made  easy,  or  was  in  those  days,  by 
the  facilities  which  rendered  house-keeping  a  pleasure 
and  an  agreeable  pastime.  It  was  a  dolce  far  niente 
kind  of  a  life  which  every  one  led ;  servants  were 
abundant ;  houses  were  never  closed  when  the  occu 
pants  happened  to  go  out,  and  nothing  was  ever  missed 
on  their  return ;  so  life  passed  easily  along.  The  na 
tives  seemed  happy,  the  foreigners  wore  an  air  of  con 
tent,  which  indicated  that  they  were  satisfied  with  life 
and  what  Honolulu  gave  them,  and  altogether  there 
was  a  charm  about  existence  there  at  that  time  more 
easilv  to  be  imagined  than  described. 


CHAPTER    VI 

The  Marquesas  and  Tahiti  —  Salute  Stories  —  Herman  Melville  — 
Flogging  in  the  Navy — Change  of  Commodores — A  Coast  Cruise 
— Idle  in  Callao — A  New  Mess — Opera  in  South  America — Com 
modore  Sloat — The  Levant's  Company. 

IT  was  not  without  feelings  of  regret  that  we  left 
this  charming  spot  and  got  under  way  for  the  Island 
of  Nukuhiva,  of  the  Marquesas  group.  The  sailing  was 
beautiful,  as  the  trade-winds  drove  us  along  from  eight 
to  twelve  knots  an  hour,  and,  after  the  usual  passage, 
we  anchored  in  the  lovely  Bay  of  Nukuhiva.  This  Bay 
makes  one  of  the  most  beautiful  harbors  I  have  ever 
seen.  Completely  landlocked,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
discover  the  entrance  were  it  not  for  a  very  pronounced 
landmark  near  it.  The  mark  is  a  vertical  streak  of  some 
discolored  matter,  which  is  easily  made  out,  and  by  sail 
ing  directly  for  it  the  entrance  comes  full  in  view.  The 
natives  of  the  Marquesas  group  were  far  behind  those 
of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  I  believe,  even  up  to  the  time 
I  write,  the  Missionaries  have  made  no  impression  upon 
them.  I  am  not  sure  but  some  of  these  had  beeD  eaten, 
for  the  Marquesans  were  cannibals  of  the  worst  kind, 
and  no  one  who  desired  to  escape  roasting  ever  vent 
ured  away  from  the  coast,  where,  if  this  horrible  cus 
tom  existed  at  all,  it  was  in  a  very  modified  form.  No 
traces  of  it  ever  came  under  our  observation,  but  grue 
some  stories  were  told  of  what  constantly  took  place  in 
the  interior. 

61 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

We  did  not  remain  long  at  these  Islands,  where  there 
was  nothing  to  do  but  look  at  a  lot  of  half-naked  sav 
ages,  but  got  under  way  and  sailed  for  Tahiti,  passing 
by  numerous  islands,  which  formed  a  sort  of  Archipela 
go  of  the  South  Seas.  The  islands  are  of  coral  forma 
tion,  many  of  them  already  complete  and  flourishing, 
while  others  were  just  forming,  and  showed  but  a  few 
feet  above  the  water.  In  a  few  days  we  reached  Ta 
hiti,  where  we  took  a  pilot,  which  I  mention  only  be 
cause  he  insisted  in  calling  Point  Yenus  Point "  Wenus"; 
I  can  see  him  now  on  the  poop,  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner  telling  the  Captain  from  time  to  time  that  he 
must  "  weather  Point  Wenus  before  he  could  fetch  the 
anchorage."  After  working  to  windward  for  some  time 
we  finally  succeeded  in  accomplishing  that  necessary 
feat,  and  anchored  in  Matavai  Bay.  This  Bay  was  easier 
of  access  for  vessels  of  heavy  draft  than  Papiete  Bay, 
although  the  latter  was  a  better  harbor,  entirely  pro 
tected  by  the  reef,  which  locked  it  in  completely.  We 
remained  a  week  or  ten  days  at  this  charming  Island, 
which  we  all  enjoyed  very  much.  The  luxuriant  growth 
of  everything  here,  the  variety  of  the  flora,  and  the 
rich  coloring  of  all  that  the  earth  produces  were  most 
pleasing  to  the  eye.  One  never  tired  of  what  was  call 
ed  the  Broom  Road,  which  was  a  green  archway,  re 
sembling,  more  than  anything  else  to  which  I  can  liken 
it,  a  tunnel  through  the  thickest  of  foliage.  This  road 
was  about  a  mile  long,  connecting  the  two  villages  of 
Matavai  and  Papiete,  and  the  archway  was  made  up 
of  every  conceivable  tropical  plant.  Bits  of  sunlight 
occasionally  found  their  way  through  the  foliage,  but 
this  lovely  promenade  was  always  in  the  shade,  and  at 
all  times  of  the  day  one  could  be  cool  and  comfortable 
within  its  green  walls.  The  natives  are,  I  think,  the 

62 


SALUTE    STORIES 

most  comely  of  all  the  aborigines  who  inhabit  the  Pa 
cific  Islands.  It  was  here  that  the  mutineers  of  the 
Bounty  found  the  wives  that  they  carried  off  with  them 
to  Pitcairn's  Island.  At  the  time  about  which  I  am 
writing  the  French  had  not  yet  assumed  a  protectorate 
over  the  Society  Islands,  but  they  did  soon  afterwards. 
There  was  a  Queen  who  came  on  board,  but  I  do  not 
remember  whether  it  was  Pomare,  well  known  in  the 
history  of  the  Islands,  or  some  other  Queen.  Ladies 
of  that  rank  were  not  uncommon  in  those  days  in  the 
South  Seas.  At  all  events,  she  was  a  Queen  to  be 
saluted,  and  we  gave  her  five  guns,  which  made  her 
very  happy.  She  was  very  much  tattooed,  and  I  re 
member  she  drew  up  her  cotton  skirt  and  exhibited  her 
leg,  covered  with  India -ink.  She  was  treated  with 
every  consideration  by  the  Commodore,  and  returned 
to  her  Island  feeling  more  like  a  Queen  than  ever. 

Speaking  of  the  salute  reminds  me  of  the  following 
story :  It  is  the  custom  of  men-of-war  of  all  nations  to 
salute  the  flag  of  the  country  whose  port  they  enter. 
When  there  is  any  doubt  about  the  salute  being  return 
ed,  an  officer  is  sent  to  inform  the  authorities  that  a 
salute  will  be  fired,  provided  it  is  returned.  One  of  our 
ships  on  entering  a  Chinese  port  sent  word  to  the  Man 
darin  in  command  that  the  Captain  would  be  happy  to 
salute  him  if  he  would  return  the  salute.  The  reply  of 
the  Mandarin  was,  that  the  idea  was  a  very  beautiful 
one,  but  that  he  had  no  powder.  There  is  another 
salute  story  which  I  may  as  well  repeat  here.  An  old 
classmate  of  mine  was  the  Aid  to  a  Captain  of  the 
old  days,  and  once  accompanied  him  on  a  visit  to  a 
Portuguese  man-of-war.  The  Captain,  when  he  got  into 
his  boat,  saw  some  preparations  for  saluting  being  made, 
when  he  rushed  up  the  ladder  and  called  out,  "JSTo  salute ! 

63 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

no  salute  !"  and  when  he  had  again  taken  his  seat  in 
the  boat  he  said  to  his  Aid,  "You  have  no  idea,  Mr. 
,  of  the  advantages  of  speaking  the  foreign  lan 
guages."  The  fact  is,  he  knew  no  language  but  his 
own. 

We  had  now  been  cruising  amongst  the  Islands  of  the 
Pacific  for  some  months,  and  were  not  sorry  when  the 
time  came  to  get  under  way  for  the  coast.  Savage  and 
half-civilized  life  become  very  irksome  when  the  nov 
elty  is  worn  off ;  after  having  been  a  long  time  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  Mediterranean,  I  have  felt  a  sense  of 
relief  upon  reaching  a  place  where  I  could  no  longer 
see  a  fez.  At  Tahiti  we  picked  up  some  seamen  who 
were  there  on  the  Consul's  hands.  They  were  entered 
on  the  books  of  the  ship,  and  became  a  portion  of  the 
crew.  One  of  the  number  was  Herman  Melville,  who 
became  famous  afterwards  as  a  writer  and  an  admiralty 
lawyer.  He  had  gone  to  sea  for  his  health,  and  found 
himself  stranded  in  the  South  Pacific.  I  do  not  remem 
ber  what  the  trouble  was,  but  he  and  his  comrades  had 
left  the  ship  of  which  they  were  a  portion  of  the  crew. 
Melville  wrote  a  book,  well  known  in  its  day,  called 
White  Jacket,  which  had  more  influence  in  abolishing 
corporal  punishment  in  the  Navy  than  anything  else. 
This  book  was  placed  on  the  desk  of  every  member  of 
Congress,  and  was  a  most  eloquent  appeal  to  the  hu 
mane  sentiment  of  the  country.  As  an  evidence  of  the 
good  it  did,  a  law  was  passed  soon  after  the  book  ap 
peared  abolishing  flogging  in  the  Navy  absolutely,  with 
out  substituting  any  other  mode  of  punishment  in  its 
stead;  and  this  was  exactly  in  accordance  with  Mel 
ville's  appeal.  He  said :  "  Abolish  it  at  once,  even  if  you 
substitute  nothing  for  it ;  but  abolish  it." 

I  do  not  think  that  I  remember  Melville  at  all ;  occa- 

64 


HERMAN    MELVILLE 

sionally  will  flash  across  my  memory  a  maintop-man  flit 
ting  about  the  starboard  gangway  with  a  white  jacket 
on,  but  there  is  not  much  reality  in  the  picture  which 
it  presents  to  my  mind.  In  his  book  he  speaks  of  a  cer 
tain  seaman,  Jack  Chase,  who  was  Captain  of  the  main 
top,  of  whom  I  have  a  very  distinct  recollection.  He 
was  about  as  fine  a  specimen  of  a  seaman  as  I  have 
ever  seen  in  all  my  cruising.  He  was  not  only  that, 
but  he  was  a  man  of  intelligence  and  a  born  leader. 
His  top-mates  adored  him,  although  he  kept  them  up  to 
the  mark,  and  made  every  man  do  his  share  of  work. 
Melville  has  given  him  considerable  space  in  his  book, 
and  seems  to  have  had  intense  admiration  for  him.  He 
mentions  also  a  number  of  officers  whom  it  is  not  diffi 
cult  to  recognize.  The  Commanding  Officer,  who  had  a 
very  red  face,  he  called  Captain  Claret ;  a  small  but  very 
energetic  Midshipman,  who  made  himself  felt  and  heard 
about  the  decks,  he  called  Mr.  Pert ;  the  Gunner  was 
"  Old  Combustibles."  He  gives  no  names,  but  to  any 
one  who  served  in  the  Frigate  United  States  it  was  easy 
to  recognize  the  men  by  their  sobriquets.  Melville  cer 
tainly  did  a  grand  work  in  bringing  his  ability  as  a 
writer  and  his  experience  as  a  seaman  to  bear  upon  this 
important  matter — I  mean  corporal  punishment — which 
had  been  the  subject  of  so  much  discussion  in  and  out  of 
Congress.  He  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  system,  and 
able  to  judge  of  it  from  personal  observation  ;  he  knew 
how  much  it  might  be  abused  by  an  unfeeling  and  ty 
rannical  Captain.  I  saw  enough  of  it  myself  to  be  sick 
ened  with  its  use  and  abuse.  I  saw  a  man  once  flogged 
around  the  Fleet,  which  means  that  he  was  taken  from 
ship  to  ship,  and  at  each  one  received  a  portion  of  the 
one  hundred  or  more  lashes  which  he  had  been  con 
demned  to  receive.  Not  that  he  might  not  have  de- 
E  65 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

served  very  severe  punishment,  but  there  was  something 
very  painful  in  having  to  be  an  unwilling  witness  to  this 
kind  of  torture. 

Herman  Melville  was  so  deeply  impressed  by  the  in 
justice  that  this  system  worked,  and  felt  so  strongly 
upon  the  subject,  that  he  says,  referring  to  some  matter 
in  which  he  himself  was  the  person  in  question  and  when 
this  punishment  might  have  been  resorted  to,  that  he 
had  made  up  his  mind,  when  the  worst  came  to  the  worst 
and  there  was  no  escape,  to  seize  the  Captain  by  the 
waist  and  jump  overboard  with  him  locked  in  his  arms. 
I  will  dismiss  this  unpleasant  subject  by  mentioning  a 
case  of  peculiar  hardship  which  came  more  immediately 
under  my  observation  on  board  a  ship  on  which  I  once 
served,  because  the  person  in  question  seemed  to  have  a 
special  liking  for  me.  He  was  a  man  of  some  education, 
and  had  drifted  into  the  service  and  away  from  his  home 
for  some  cause  which,  if  I  ever  knew,  I  have  forgotten 
now.  I  think  he  was  employed  as  a  writer  on  board  the 
ship  in  which  I  was  serving  at  the  time,  and  made  him 
self  useful  in  that  way.  He  used  often  to  talk  to  me 
and  tell  me  of  his  troubles,  and  I  would  listen.  He  had 
a  sort  of  literary  tendency,  and  kept  a  journal  in  which 
he  jotted  down  from  time  to  time  events  of  one  kind 
and  another  that  had  occurred  on  board.  Somehow  it 
came  to  the  ears  of  the  authorities,  the  journal  was  ex 
amined,  and  something  was  discovered  for  which  it  was 
thought  he  deserved  to  be  flogged.  I  always  thought  it 
a  peculiarly  hard  case,  for  it  seemed  to  me  this  man  had 
as  much  right  to  make  such  notes  as  he  pleased  in  a  pri 
vate  journal  as  he  had  to  do  anything  else  in  the  world. 
The  poor  fellow,  whose  name  I  will  not  mention,  dis 
played  his  literary  fancies  in  doggerel  rhymes  and  acros 
tics.  He  once  wrote  an  acrostic  to  me,  some  of  the  lines 


A    PARTLY    REMEMBERED    ACROSTIC 

of  which  I  remember,  and  which  I  will  produce  here  to 
show  of  what  curious  material  the  crew  of  a  man-of-war 
was,  at  that  time,  composed.  It  ran  thus : 

"  Since  thou  hast  chosen  for  thy  lot 

A  home  upon  the  heaving  main, 
May  sorrows  be  by  thee  forgot, 

Unfelt  a  tyrant's  chain. 
Each  day  may  conscious  virtue  bring 

Light-hearted  joy  to  cheer  thy  way, 
Refreshing  like  the  flowers  of  spring 

Fierce  winter's  cheerless  ray." 

The  remainder  has  passed  entirely  out  of  my  mind,  ex 
cept  the  last  three  lines,  and  they  ran  as  follows  : 

11  Like  him,  the  sage  whose  name  you  own, 

In  journeying  down  thy  pathway,  lone, 

Ne'er  heed  the  shafts  of  malice  thrown." 

I  lost  sight  of  this  poor  fellow  when  I  was  transferred 
to  another  ship,  but  he  was  humiliated  and  heart-broken, 
and  I  do  not  think  he  ever  felt  the  same  after  the  trouble 
came  upon  him  which  I  have  just  mentioned. 

We  had  an  uneventful  passage  from  Tahiti  to  Val 
paraiso,  as  we  bowled  along  with  the  fresh  southwest 
winds.  Before  we  reached  our  port  we  sighted  the  Isl 
ands  of  Mas-d-Fuera  and  Mas-d-Tierra,  a  few  hundred 
miles  off  the  coast  of  Chili,  nearly  due  west  from  Val 
paraiso.  It  was  one  of  these  Islands  upon  which  Defoe 
laid  the  scene  of  the  story  of  Robinson  Crusoe.  In  pass 
ing  them,  one  cannot  help  thinking  of  the  desolate  life 
of  Alexander  Selkirk,  and  the  dreary  years  he  passed 
here  in  solitude,  and  everything  connected  with  that  sad 
but  interesting  history.  He  was  left  here  by  the  Captain 
of  the  ship  on  which  he  was  serving,  in  consequence  of 
a  quarrel  he  had  with  him,  and  was  rescued  some  years 

67 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

afterwards  by  Captain  Woodes  Rodgers,  who  command 
ed  a  British  privateer.  Dampier,  who  was  with  Rodgers, 
had  known  Selkirk  in  former  years,  and  pronounced  him 
an  excellent  man.  He  was  afterwards  given  the  com 
mand  of  Rodgers' s  Hospital  Ship,  and  did  good  ser 
vice  in  his  little  Fleet.  Afterwards  he  went  to  England, 
where  he  was  made  much  of,  and  a  monument  was 
erected  at  Juan  Fernandez  to  his  memory,  either  by  the 
British  Government  or  by  the  officers  of  some  man-of- 
war  that  had  been  long  stationed  in  those  waters. 

As  I  have  no  journals  or  notes  of  any  kind  to  which 
I  might  refer  for  dates,  I  can  only  say  that  about  the 
time  of  which  I  am  now  writing  we  had  reached  the 
middle  of  the  third  year  from  the  time  when  the  ship 
was  put  in  commission,  which  would  make  it  1843. 
Upon  our  arrival  at  Valparaiso,  the  first  news  that 
reached  us  was  that  Commodore  Dallas  had  arrived  on 
the  Station  to  relieve  Jones.  The  Constellation  hap 
pening  to  be  in  Valparaiso  when  we  were  there,  Jones 
quietly  stepped  on  board  of  her  and  sailed  away,  round 
Cape  Horn,  for  home,  leaving  Dallas  to  pick  up  the 
Squadron  as  best  he  could,  thus  avoiding  the  unpleasant 
ness  of  the  ceremony  of  a  regular  relief,  which  under 
the  circumstances  would  have  been  very  embarrassing, 
as  Dallas  no  doubt  felt  that  Jones  had  gone  off  on  his 
Island  cruise  in  order  that  he  might  retain  his  command 
for  a  longer  period.  It  was  thought  that  a  meeting  at 
that  time  might  have  led  to  serious  consequences,  and 
that  a  duel  might  have  been  the  result ;  so  it  was  better 
as  it  was.  Poor  Dallas  died  soon  after,  and  Jones  lived 
to  command  the  Pacific  Squadron  for  the  second  time. 

After  the  departure  of  Jones,  the  Frigate  United 
States  sailed  for  Callao,  now  ceasing  to  be  a  Flag -ship. 
Upon  our  arrival  we  found  the  Frigate  Savannah,  which 


DEATH    OF    DALLAS 

had  been  sent  out  to  be  the  Flag-ship  of  the  new  Com 
modore.  We  were  not  permitted  to  remain  long  in  the 
harbor,  for  Dallas  sent  us  on  a  long  cruise  to  the  coast 
of  Mexico.  The  object  of  the  cruise  was,  I  think,  to  see 
if  we  could  pick  up  what  was  then  called  freight,  which 
meant  the  conveying  of  silver  from  Mazatlan  to  some 
point  where  it  could  be  shipped  to  England.  We  made 
the  trip,  and  returned  to  Callao.  Nothing  could  have 
been  more  uninteresting  than  this  long  and  tedious  voy 
age,  which  occupied  more  than  a  hundred  days.  As  we 
were  standing  in  for  anchorage  and  began  to  make  out 
things  in  the  harbor,  we  discovered  a  long  line  of  boats 
in  procession  pulling  in  for  shore.  Then  we  saw  the 
Pennant  of  the  Flag-ship  at  half-mast,  and  then  heard 
the  booming  of  minute-guns.  Poor  Dallas  was  being 
conveyed  to  his  last  resting-place.  He  had  not  enjoyed 
his  command  long,  having  been  upon  the  Station  only 
about  four  months.  He  was  a  popular  officer,  and  had 
many  warm  friends  that  sincerely  mourned  his  loss. 
The  command  of  the  Squadron  now  devolved  upon  Cap 
tain  Armstrong.  He  immediately  transferred  the  com 
mand  of  the  United  States  to  Captain  Stribling,  and 
took  command  of  the  Savannah  himself,  and  also  of  the 
Squadron,  as  Senior  Officer  on  the  Station.  The  Frigate 
United  States  was  ordered  to  prepare  for  the  homeward- 
bound  cruise.  The  Store-ship  Relief  was  lying  at  Callao 
in  want  of  watch-officers.  As  an  inducement  to  me  and 
others  to  volunteer  to  remain  out,  it  was  held  out  to  us 
that  we  should  have  regular  charge  of  a  watch,  and  that 
ail  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  a  watch-officer  would 
devolve  upon  us.  Wilcox  and  I  were  very  warm  friends, 
and  we  agreed  to  remain. 

The  Relief  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  H.  K. 
Hoff,  and  was  a  fixture  in  the  harbor  of  Callao.     What 

69 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

I  did  during  the  idle  months  which  I  passed  in  her  there 
it  is  now  difficult  for  me  to  conceive.  We  had  a  pleas 
ant  mess,  consisting  of  Hammersley,  a  Passed  Midship 
man,  who  was  Acting  Lieutenant,  Wilcox,  John  K.  "Wil 
son,  and  myself,  Midshipmen.  Purser  Storer  and  his 
clerk  were  also  in  the  mess,  although  the  former  had  a 
room  in  the  cabin.  The  Purser,  Mr.  Storer,  passed  most 
of  his  time  in  Lima,  so  I  saw  but  little  of  him.  After 
several  months  of  this  lounging,  idle  life,  the  Relief  was 
ordered  to  Valparaiso  for  some  purpose,  either  to  show 
the  flag  or  to  get  stores.  We  sailed  accordingly,  and 
after  a  rather  long  passage  came  to  anchor  off  the  city. 
We  had  now  reached  the  year  1844,  more  than  two  years 
after  I  first  visited  Valparaiso,  during  which  time  it  had 
advanced  considerably  in  population  and  importance. 
A  new  and  exceedingly  fine  opera-house  had  been  con 
structed  ;  the  best  kind  of  Italian  opera  was  given  by 
first-class  artistes,  and  the  opera-house  and  all  connected 
therewith  was  the  absorbing  topic.  All  the  world  went, 
and  the  two  prime  donne  were  the  heroines  of  the  day. 
So  great  was  the  impression  they  made  upon  my  youth 
ful  mind  that  although  I  have  seen  and  heard  many 
singers  since,  whose  names  at  the  time  were  very  famil 
iar  to  me,  yet  they  have  many  of  them  passed  entirely 
from  my  mind,  while  the  names  of  Tadolini  and  Rossini 
are  still  fresh  in  my  memory.  One  was  a  contralto,  the 
other  a  soprano.  I  had  no  personal  acquaintance  with 
them,  but  I  looked  upon  them  with  that  sort  of  admira 
tion  with  which  I  might  look  upon  a  Queen  now.  The 
operas  that  they  most  frequently  figured  in  were  "I 
Puritani"  and  "Lucia";  and  when  I  could  hear  them 
in  these  I  used  to  think  my  happiness  was  complete. 

Up  to  the  time  about  which  I  write  there  had  been 
no  hotels  in  Valparaiso  worthy  of  the  name.   Two  young 

' 


MR.    OLIVER    O'DONNELL 

Americans,  Thibault  and  Pollard,  and  an  Englishman 
of  the  name  of  Townsend,  supplied  the  deficiency  by 
establishing  one,  which  I  presume  might  be  called  a  first- 
class  house.  It  was  certainly  excellent  for  that  day,  but  I 
heard  afterwards  that  they  went  into  it  too  extravagant 
ly,  and  soon  came  to  grief.  In  those  days  we  saw  many 
more  merchant  vessels  flying  the  American  flag  than 
we  do  now ;  then  our  sails  whitened  every  sea ;  now  it 
is  a  rare  thing  to  see  one.  There  were  several  at  Val 
paraiso  at  the  time  the  Relief  was  there ;  one  that  I 
recall  distinctly,  the  Seaman,  of  Baltimore.  Her  Cap 
tain  was  Captain  My  rick,  who  had  his  wife  on  board ; 
and  we  of  the  Relief  visited  them  frequently.  There 
was  also  on  board,  either  as  a  passenger  or  Supercargo, 
Mr.  Oliver  O'Donnell,  of  Baltimore,  with  whom  I  was 
very  intimate.  He  was  a  handsome,  charming  young 
fellow  in  those  days,  and  we  all  became  very  fond  of 
him.  He  afterwards  married  the  sister  of  Governor 
Carroll,  of  Maryland.  The  Governor  is  now  one  of  my 
most  intimate  friends,  of  whom  I  see  a  great  deal  in  the 
winter  at  Washington.  I  often  see  also  the  daughter 
of  my  old  friend  O'Donnell,  who  is  a  charming  girl.  I 
mention  these  things  because  they  are  associated  in  my 
mind  with  those  of  far-off  days  in  Valparaiso,  when  we 
Americans  used  to  spend  our  evenings  together,  gener 
ally  at  the  opera.  One  of  our  party,  whose  image  comes 
back  to  me  now  as  I  write,  was  a  delightful  young  fel 
low  from  Virginia,  son  of  our  Minister  to  Chili,  Mr. 
Crump,  who  was  a  highly  creditable  representative  of 
our  country,  and  one  of  whom  all  Americans  could  be 
proud. 

We  were  soon  obliged  to  tear  ourselves  away  from 
these  pleasant  scenes  and  make  our  way  back,  to  resume 
the  dulness  and  monotony  of  life  at  Callao,  where  we 

71 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

anchored  after  the  usual  eight  or  ten  days'  passage. 
Our  ships  made  it  in  that  time,  running  as  they  did  be 
fore  a  fair  trade-wind.  We  resumed  our  idle  life,  which, 
happily,  was  not  destined  to  be  of  long  continuance. 
Commodore  Sloat  soon  afterwards  arrived,  and  assumed 
command  of  the  Squadron ;  and  the  Levant  happening 
in  about  that  time,  I  was,  at  my  own  request,  ordered 
to  join  her.  On  board  of  the  Levant  were  two  of  my 
most  intimate  friends,  Midshipmen  Welsh  and  Wells.  I 
was  made  very  happy  by  this  change,  not  only  on  that 
account,  but  because  I  longed  for  more  active  service, 
and  she  was  a  cruiser  that  was  always  on  the  go. 

We  were  not  long  idle,  but  were  sent  off  at  once  to 
Panama,  as  much  for  the  mails  as  anything  else ;  for 
the  facilities  for  getting  letters  in  those  days  were  very 
poor.  I  was  once  without  them,  during  my  cruise,  for 
a  period  of  eighteen  months.  We  would  miss  them  at 
one  place  and  then  another,  and  they  were  forwarded 
along,  so  they  would  follow  us  all  around  the  Pacific. 
We  made  an  extraordinarily  long  passage,  having  en 
countered  a  succession  of  calms  that  persecuted  us  for 
many  days.  We  had  all  this  calm  weather  in  the  Bay 
of  Panama,  which  can  probably  beat  the  world  for 
the  stillness  of  its  surroundings;  I  never  have  known 
any  re-ion  where  calm  continues  so  great  a  length  of 
time.  The  officers  of  the  Levant  were  Commander  H.  N. 
Page,  Lieutemv  ^  Handy  (commonly  known  as  Bob),  Joe 
Adams,  Alexander  Murray,  Louis  McLane,  and  Dorsey 
Read.  The  Surgeon  was  Gilchrist,  and  the  Purser  Rit- 
tenhouse.  My  impression  is  that  Louis  McLane  and  I 
are  the  only  survivors.  Welsh  died  young.  Wells  lived 
to  be  a  Rear- Admiral,  as  also  did  Murray.  They  both 
died  only  a  few  years  ago.  They  were  fine  fellows, 
and  it  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  look  back  upon  my  ser- 


LOUIS    McLANE 

vice  with  men  so  agreeable  as  were  my  shipmates  of 
the  Levant.  Louis  McLane  left  the  Navy  soon  after 
the  Mexican  War.  He  was  successful  in  business  in 
California,  and  made  a  large  fortune ;  he  stands,  very 
high  both  socially  and  in  the  business  community  of 
Baltimore,  where  he  now  resides.  I  have  known  him 
off  and  on  for  more  than  fifty  years,  and  have  never 
known  in  all  respects  a  higher  type  of  man.  He  was  a 
great  loss  to  the  Navy,  as<  he  would  have  been  to  any 
calling  in  which  he  might  have  been  engaged.  He  was 
the  leading  man  in  the  Levant,  and  would  be  such  in  any 
position  in  which  he  might  be  placed.  McLane  belongs 
to  a  distinguished  American  family.  His  father  was 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  Minister  to  England. 
His  brother  Robert  has  been  our  Minister  to  France, 
and  has  filled  other  distinguished  positions.  The  strain 
which  produces  such  men  is  largely  developed  in  Louis. 


'-•rn*. 


CHAPTER  VII 

In  Panama— A  Nicaraguan  Journey— In  the  City  of  Leon— Begin 
nings  of  the  War  with  Mexico— Fremont  and  Kit  Carson  —  An 
other  Capture  of  Monterey — Brazilian  Midshipmen — Stay  at  Rio — 
Home  Again. 

WE  did  not  remain  long  at  Panama.  I  went  on  shore 
several  times,  and  found  it  interesting,  inasmuch  as  it 
differed  entirely  from  the  other  South  American  cities 
with  which  I  was  familiar.  The  houses  seemed  to  me  to 
be  three  or  four  stories  high,  and  there  was  an  appearance 
of  antiquity  about  them  that  was  very  alluring.  Every 
thing  else  I  had  seen  in  the  Southern  Continent  seemed 
new  and  fresh.  The  passage  back  to  Callao  was  long 
and  tedious.  It  had  to  be  made  against  a  light  head 
wind  with  an  adverse  current.  I  can  conceive  noth 
ing  in  all  sea -going  life  more  dull  than  beating  up 
the  coast  of  Peru  for  Callao.  Some  days  we  would 
make  nothing  to  windward ;  some  days  we  would  lose, 
and  be  worse  off  than  we  were  the  day  before ;  and 
then  again,  by  keeping  in-shore,  we  would  get  a  slant 
and  make  a  good  leg  along.  We  finally  arrived  at 
Callao,  and  rejoined  our  Squadron. 

Commodore  Sloat  soon  dispersed  the  ships,  and  scat 
tered  them  through  the  North  Pacific.  My  friends 
Welsh  and  Wells  were  to  be  examined  for  their  promo 
tion,  and  as  we  were  now  in  the  year  1845,  and  their 
examination  took  place  in  1846,  they  left  us,  and  went 
home  for  instruction  at  the  Naval  Academy,  which  was 

74 


EXPEDITION    INTO    NICARAGUA 

soon  to  be  established  at  Annapolis.  I  had  now  only 
one  messmate,  Midshipman  Gordon;  he  and  I  shared 
the  port  steerage  together,  so  that  we  had  the  greatest 
abundance  of  room.  We  were  excellent  friends,  but 
one  day  we  had  a  quarrel,  and  did  not  speak  for  some 
time;  but  a  visiting  Midshipman  came  on  board  who 
was  a  friend  to  both  of  us,  and,  soon  seeing  the  situa 
tion,  said:  "What  is  the  matter?  The  whole  mess 
seems  to  be  in  a  row."  And  so,  in  this  playful  way, 
the  matter  was  made  up.  We  remained  intimate  friends 
ever  afterwards.  My  cruising,  henceforth,  until  the  re 
turn  of  the  Levant  to  the  United  States,  was  in  the 
North  Pacific.  We  went  to  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
which  made  my  third  visit  to  that  interesting  group ; 
we  cruised  along  the  coast  of  Central  America,  and  re 
mained  for  a  while  at  Eealejo,  where  there  was  then  a 
snug  little  anchorage,  in  the  mouth  of  the  river,  which 
now  is,  I  think,  the  site  of  the  present  Corinto. 

From  this  point  a  party  was  made  up  for  an  expedi 
tion  towards  the  interior  of  Nicaragua.  It  had  no  ob 
ject  but  that  of  seeing  the  country  and  enjoying  a  little 
relaxation  from  the  monotony  of  life  on  board  ship.  It 
is,  I  find,  very  difficult  after  this  long  interval  to  remem 
ber  who  composed  the  party  besides  myself,  but  I  do  re 
member  one  charming  fellow  who  was  with  us ;  he  was 
known  in  those  days  as  little  Dorsey  Eead.  He  was 
our  Sailing-Master— bright,  high-spirited — the  life  of 
the  party.  Purser  Blttenhouse  also  accompanied  us. 
Any  one  who  ever  knew  him  remembers  this  kindly, 
genial  gentleman.  I  shall  never  forget  the  beautiful, 
bright  morning  that  we  started  from  the  ship ;  it  was 
not  yet  daylight ;  the  stars  shone  brightly  as  we  pulled 
along  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  stream  towards  the 
point  where  we  were  to  take  our  horses  for  the  trip. 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

The  weather  was  warm  at  Kealejo,  but  I  shall  always 
remember  the  freshness  of  the  morning  air  as  we  sped 
along  to  our  destination,  where  our  guide  with  the 
horses  saddled  them,  and  every  preparation  was  made 
for  a  start.  We  soon  found  ourselves  passing  through 
a  beautiful  country,  with  the  finest  forest  trees  I  have 
ever  seen.  I  did  not  then  know  what  they  were,  but, 
as  the  mahogany-tree  grows  to  a  great  size,  I  presume 
that  many  of  them  were  of  this  beautiful  wood.  As 
we  proceeded,  the  weather  became  hot,  so  that  we  were 
obliged  to  discontinue  our  journey  and  lie  by  during 
the  heat  of  the  day.  We  always  found  some  hospita 
ble  hut,  where  the  family  and  the  chickens  seemed  all 
to  live  together,  and  where  we  could  always  be  provided 
with  a  comfortable  meal.  In  the  evening  we  would  re 
sume  our  journey,  and  continue  on  late  into  the  night. 
We  then  stopped  for  a  few  hours  to  rest,  stretched  on 
the  hide  beds  of  the  country,  for  there  were  no  such 
things  as  mattresses.  We  were  tired  men,  however, 
and  the  sleep  was  most  refreshing.  Long  before  day 
we  would  be  off  again,  and  continue  until  again  arrested 
by  the  heat.  I  often  dropped  off  to  sleep  as  we  rode 
along,  and  then  would  wake  up  surprised  to  find  that  I 
had  not  fallen  from  my  horse. 

We  continued  in  this  way  for  two  or  three  days, 
through  a  beautiful  country  all  the  time,  never  tiring 
of  the  lovely  scenery  by  which  we  were  surrounded. 
We  passed  through  many  interesting  little  villages,  the 
inhabitants  of  which  were  a  mixture  of  aborigines  and 
Spaniards ;  for  in  Central- American  countries  the  races 
mingled  more  than  they  did  with  us,  and,  although 
native  characteristics  were  predominant,  yet  Spanish 
was  the  language  spoken  throughout  nearly  all  the 
land.  My  impression  is  that  the  original  language 

76 


JONAS    DIBBLE 

had  entirely  died  out,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that 
Spanish  influence  had  been  felt  there  for  several  cen 
turies.  We  finally  reached  the  city  of  Leon,  which  was 
practically  the  end  of  our  journey.  There  were  no  hotels 
in  the  city,  so  we  billeted  ourselves  upon  an  Englishman 
named  Jonas  Dibble.  He  had  married  a  wife  of  the 
women  of  the  country,  who  was  very  pretty,  and  did 
the  honors  of  his  establishment  very  gracefully.  lie  had 
been  so  long  in  the  country,  and  was  so  unused  to  hear 
ing  English  spoken,  that  he  had  almost  forgotten  his  own 
language,  or  rather,  I  should  say,  did  so  to  that  extent 
that  he  would  use  English  words  that  conveyed  a  mean 
ing  which  he  did  not  intend.  I  do  not  remember  that  he 
was  engaged  in  any  particular  occupation,  but  he  seemed 
happy  enough,  although  he  complained  that  the  Kevolu- 
tionists  sacked  and  ransacked,  to  use  his  own  expression, 
from  time  to  time,  so  that  he  felt  very  poor,  and  was  full 
of  apologies  for  the  plain  manner  in  which  he  was  obliged 
to  live.  However,  he  was  very  kind  and  hospitable,  and  I 
do  not  know  what  we  should  have  done  without  the  food 
and  shelter  which  he  gave  us  during  the  two  or  three 
days  we  were  at  Leon.  The  day  after  our  arrival  we 
visited  the  lake  of  the  same  name.  It  was  a  fine  sheet 
of  water,  and  when  the  Nicaragua  Canal  shall  have  been 
in  operation  for  a  century  its  shores  will  no  doubt  be 
studded  with  villas  and  its  waters  ploughed  by  steamers 
and  yachts  and  water-craft  of  every  description. 

We  returned  to  the  ship  much  in  the  same  manner  as 
we  came  from  it,  and,  although  we  had  a  charming  trip, 
we  were,  nevertheless,  glad  to  get  back  to  our  ship's  home 
and  the  comforts  which  surrounded  us  there.  It  is  al 
ways  found  after  a  sojourn  on  shore  that  a  ship  has  a 
great  many  comforts  which  one  not  accustomed  to  ship- 
life  can  hardly  understand,  especially  when  she  is  on  a 

77 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

foreign  cruise  and  the  ship  is  one's  own  home.  I  am 
reminded,  as  I  write,  of  a  little  incident,  apropos  of  this 
subject,  told  to  me  by  my  friend  Lieutenant-Commander 
Ames,  long  since  dead.  There  was  an  old  seaman  who 
was  employed  at  Annapolis,  in  a  better  position  than 
he  had  probably  ever  occupied  in  his  life.  He  had 
saved  some  money,  had  built  himself  a  house,  and  was 
altogether  comfortable.  He  went  to  Ames  one  day  and 
said :  "  Mr.  Ames,  I  am  getting  a  kind  o'  tired  of  this 
here  kind  of  life,  and  I  feels,  sir,  as  how  I'd  like  to  be 
off  again.  To  be  sure,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "  they  pays 
me  well,  and  treats  me  well,  and  I  has  a  house,  sir — a 
good  house.  Why,  Mr.  Ames,  my  house  has  all  the 
comforts  of  a  ship  into  it,  sir,  but  I  ain't  happy  here 
nohow,  and  I  wants  to  be  off."  So  Jack  has  an  appre 
ciation  of  the  comforts  of  a  ship  as  well  as  his  master. 

We  sailed  from  Kealejo,  and  soon  after  found  our 
selves  at  Mazatlan,  where  the  rest  of  the  Fleet  was  as 
sembled  as  a  sort  of  Squadron  of  observation.  The  year 
1846  had  arrived,  and  the  Mexican  War  was  close  upon 
us.  While  we  were  at  Mazatlan,  Lieutenant  Gillespie, 
of  the  Marine  Corps,  arrived  with  despatches  for  Fre 
mont  and  Mr.  Larkin,  our  Consul  at  Monterey.  He 
traversed  Mexico  from  Yera  Cruz,  having  passed  himself 
off  as  a  merchant.  Strange  to  say,  his  real  character 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  suspected  by  the  Mexicans, 
so  he  came  through  unmolested.  Commodore  Sloat,  in 
order  to  avert  suspicion,  sent  him  to  Monterey  by  way 
of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  In  January,  1846,  Fremont, 
who  was  upon  one  of  his  exploring  expeditions,  found 
himself  about  one  hundred  miles  east  of  Monterey  in 
the  San  Joachim  Valley,  when  he  required  rest  for  his 
horses.  He  went  in  person  to  Monterey  to  see  General 
Castro,  who  was  in  command  there,  in  order  to  get  per- 

78 


FREMONT    IN    MEXICO 

mission  to  remain  in  the  Valley  during  the  winter.  Cas 
tro  granted  his  request,  but,  as  it  was  not  approved  by 
the  Mexican  Government,  he  took  opposite  ground,  and 
tried  to  rouse  the  people  to  look  upon  Fremont  and  his 
party  as  public  enemies.  The  American  settlers  in  the 
Valley  wished  Fremont  to  assume  the  offensive,  offering 
to  assist  him,  but  as  he  knew  nothing  yet  of  a  state  of 
war  existing  between  the  two  countries,  and  not  wish 
ing  to  compromise  his  own,  he  declined.  However,  he 
marched  his  small  party,  consisting  of  sixty  backwoods 
men,  to  within  thirty  miles  of  Monterey,  when  he  took 
up  a  position  on  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  raised 
the  American  flag,  and  prepared  for  resistance. 

Castro  marched  out  towards  Fremont's  party,  but  did 
not  attack  them.  Finally  Fremont,  thinking  there  was 
no  immediate  probability  of  war  with  Mexico,  started 
on  his  march  for  Oregon.  He  had  not  proceeded  very 
far  when  he  was  overtaken  by  Gillespie,  who  followed 
him  up  through  a  hostile  Indian  country  and  delivered 
his  despatches.  Fremont  now  lost  no  time  in  retracing 
his  steps,  and  in  about  a  fortnight  reached  the  Valley  of 
the  Sacramento,  near  Sutter's  Fort,  a  place  of  defence 
which  had  been  established  by  Captain  Sutter,  a  Swiss, 
who  had  been  settled  in  the  country  for  some  time. 
From  that  point  Fremont  sent  Gillespie  to  San  Fran 
cisco  for  provisions.  When  he  reached  there,  Captain 
Montgomery,  of  the  Portsmouth,  sent  Lieutenant  Hunter 
in  charge  of  a  launch  to  meet  Fremont,  which  he  did  on 
the  American  Fork.  Hunter  was  accompanied  on  this 
expedition  by  Purser  Watmough,  afterwards  Paymaster- 
General  of  the  Navy,  and  Assistant  Surgeon  Duval,  who 
desired  to  visit  Fremont's  camp.  A  sort  of  warfare  had 
at  this  time  begun  between  the  Californians  and  the 
American  settlers.  Some  of  our  people  had  captured 

79 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Sonoma,  and  brought  in  as  a  prisoner  General  Vallejo. 
So  the  Revolution,  as  it  was  called,  was  inaugurated.  I 
do  not  think  that  the  parties  on  either  side  yet  knew 
that  war  existed  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States ; 
the  settlers  asserted  that  they  were  driven  to  revolution 
in  self-defence. 

Some  fighting  took  place,  and  a  proclamation  was  is 
sued  by  a  settler,  setting  forth  the  causes  of  the  war,  and 
declaring  California  independent  of  Mexico.  A  flag  was 
adopted,  which  was  a  grizzly-bear  upon  a  white  field.  A 
very  interesting  character  at  that  time  was  Kit  Carson, 
Fremont's  second  in  command  ;  indeed,  his  whole  force 
formed  a  most  attractive  group  as  they  camped  on  the 
green  where  they  had  established  their  bivouac  for  the 
night.  A  party  of  us  went  out  from  Monterey  to  call 
upon  them.  We  were  amply  repaid  for  it,  for  they 
talked  with  us  pleasantly  for  a  long  time,  and  what 
they  had  to  say  could  not  be  otherwise  than  most  inter 
esting,  for  each  one  was  unique  in  his  own  particular  way. 
They  had  come  all  the  way  from  the  borders  of  our 
Eastern  civilization,  and  this  of  itself  surrounded  them 
with  a  sort  of  romantic  interest,  which  I  have  never  felt 
to  the  same  extent  in  any  other  group  of  men.  Kit 
Carson  paved  his  way  to  a  commission  in  the  Arm y.  I 
never  knew  what  became  of  the  others.* 

While  all  this  was  going  on,  war  was  actually  in  ex 
istence,  and  Commodore  Sloat  had  arrived  in  Monterey. 
The  conduct  of  the  war  in  California  is  a  matter  of  his 
tory.  I  was  one  of  the  landing -party  that  took  pos 
session  of  Monterey,  and  expected  to  belong  to  Purser 
Fauntleroy's  troop,  which  was  being  formed  as  a  sort  of 

*  For  that  part  of  the  narrative  in  which  Fremont,  Gillespie,  Cas 
tro,  and  Vallejo  figure,  I  am  indebted  to  General  Wilcox's  History  of 
the  Mexican  War.— S.  R.  F. 

80 


COMMODORE    BIDDLE'S    SARCASM 

web-foot  dragoon  corps ;  but  McLane  was  going  to  be 
one  of  that  force,  and  Captain  Page  was  not  willing 
further  to  deprive  his  ship  of  officers,  so  I  was  not  per 
mitted  to  go.  The  troop  was  actually  formed,  and  did 
good  service,  and  not  until  Commodore  Biddle  took 
command  of  the  Squadron  was  it  disbanded,  and  the 
officers  ordered  back  to  their  ships.  I  heard  afterwards 
that  Biddle,  upon  his  arrival  to  take  command,  sent  for 
the  officers  who  composed  this  troop,  and  put  the  ques 
tion  to  each  one:  "Well,  sir,  what  are  you  —  Colonel 
or  Major  or  Captain  ?"  and  when  he  would  get  the  reply 
he  would  say :  "  Well,  Major,  you  proceed  on  board 
your  ship  and  report  to  your  Captain  as  a  Naval  of 
ficer."  I  believe  Biddle  was  very  much  given  to  sar 
casm,  and  what  I  have  just  stated  is  an  illustration  of 
that  peculiarity. 

Soon  after  the  occupation  of  the  ports  on  the  coast 
of  California,  and  while  the  war  was  progressing  tow 
ards  a  successful  termination,  the  Levant  was  ordered 
to  return  to  the  United  States.  About  this  time  Sloat 
was  relieved  by  Stockton,  and,  later,  Biddle  appeared 
on  the  coast  in  the  Columbus  and  assumed  command. 
My  recollection  of  the  events  which  occurred  between 
the  taking  possession  of  Monterey  and  the  time  the 
Levant  sailed  for  home  is  very  vague.  The  names  of 
some  of  the  streets  in  San  Francisco  recall  to  my  mind 
some  of  the  officers  of  the  Squadron  Avho  figured  at 
that  time ;  as.  for  instance,  Stockton  Street,  Powell 
Street,  Montgomery  Square,  etc.  Some  of  these  officers 
figured  in  the  efforts  to  establish  civil  government  in 
California  at  that  time.  They  were  Alcaldes  of  towns, 
etc.  Powell  was  the  Surgeon  of  the  Warren,  Mont 
gomery  the  Captain  of  the  Portsmouth,  and  so  it  went ; 
and  thus  it  was  that  the  impress  of  these  names  was 
p  81 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

made  upon  the  infant  city  of  San  Francisco,  which 
soon  became  the  metropolis  of  the  Pacific.  I  am 
under  the  impression  that  we  conveyed  Commodore 
Sloat  to  Panama,  and  that  he  returned  to  the  United 
States  in  that  way.  I  remember  that  we  went  there, 
and  took  with  us  Lieutenant  Trapier  of  the  Cyane, 
who  was  going  home  to  resign,  to  become  an  Epis 
copal  clergyman.  Such  a  transformation  was  so  rare, 
that  the  fact  of  his  being  with  us  on  our  homeward- 
bound  trip  fixed  itself  in  my  mind  so  firmly  that  I 
remember  him,  while  I  do  not  positively  remember  the 
presence  of  a  more  important  person,  the  Commodore 
himself. 

We  had  a  long  passage  to  Valparaiso,  where  we 
touched  en  route  to  the  United  States.  While  we  were 
there  the  Columbus,  with  Commodore  Biddle,  came  in. 
She  was  a  splendid  specimen  of  the  line-of-battle  ship 
of  that  period.  She  had  been  a  long  time  in  commis 
sion,  and  was  commanded  by  Captain  Wyman.  Her 
Executive  Officer  was  Commander  Selfridge,  now  liv 
ing,  upward  of  ninety  years  of  age.  There  were  no 
finer  officers,  each  in  his  particular  way,  than  the  three 
I  have  just  mentioned  in  our  Navy,  or,  indeed,  in  any 
other  at  that  time.  Biddle  found  orders  for  himself 
here  to  proceed  to  California  and  assume  command  of 
the  Naval  forces  there,  which  he  accordingly  did,  as  I 
have  stated  above. 

I  had  by  this  time  done  so  much  cruising  and  had 
so  much  experience  at  sea  that  I  was  entrusted  with 
a  Lieutenant's  watch,  and  became  one  of  the  regular 
watch-officers  of  the  ship.  I  do  not  remember  what  the 
occasion  was,  but  the  Captain  told  me  one  day  that  he 
had  as  much  confidence  in  me  as  he  had  in  any  officer 
on  board.  I  felt,  of  course,  very  much  complimented, 


EDUCATING    BRAZILIAN    MIDSHIPMEN 

and  I  felt  also  that  I  had  not  entirely  wasted  my  time 
during  the  five  years  of  my  cruising  in  the  Pacific.  A 
number  of  my  classmates,  who  were  on  board  the  Co 
lumbus,  were  transferred  to  the  Levant,  in  order  that 
they  might  go  home  and  prepare  for  their  examina 
tions.  Amongst  them  was  a  fine  fellow — Whiting.  He 
was  a  watch -officer  on  the  way  home  as  well  as  my 
self.  Whiting  always  stood  well  in  the  service,  and 
became  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Navigation.  He  finally 
grew  blind,  and  was  obliged  to  retire  as  a  Captain. 
Congress,  however,  as  a  reward  for  good  service,  made 
him  a  Commodore  on  the  retired  list.  He  died  but  late- 
ty,  in  consequence  of  an  accident.  There  was  another 
Midshipman  of  my  class  who  came  on  board,  a  man 
named  Forrest.  He  was  a  peculiar  fellow ;  had  some 
thing  the  matter  with  his  eyes,  and  when  any  one  used 
the  pepper-box  at  the  table  he  jumped  up,  as  if  he 
were  shot,  and  felt  that  he  had  met  with  a  personal 
affront,  so  much  did  he  dread  getting  the  pepper  in  his 
eyes. 

The  Columbus  had  on  board  for  instruction  five  or 
six  Brazilian  Midshipmen  who  were  transferred  to  the 
Levant  for  passage  to  Kio.  They  did  not  seem  to  have 
profited  much  by  the  cruise,  as  only  one  of  them  had 
acquired  English,  and  that  in  a  very  small  way.  They 
had  been  taken  on  board  at  Eio  by  the  Columbus,  on 
her  way  out,  and  had  had  the  benefit  of  their  cruise  to 
China  and  back  to  Valparaiso.  As  we  were  at  war 
with  Mexico,  it  was  embarrassing  to  have  foreign  offi 
cers  on  board,  so  they  were  sent  home  with  us.  They 
were  young  men  of  good  Brazilian  families.  When  we 
were  at  Rio,  on  our  way  home,  we  received  a  good  deal 
of  attention  from  their  relations  and  friends.  While 
on  board  the  Columbus,  they  of  course  messed  with  the 

83 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Midshipmen,  but,  somehow  or  other,  they  did  not  get 
on  well,  and,  with  two  or  three  exceptions,  managed  to 
make  themselves  very  unpopular.  When  they  came  to 
us  they  labored  under  the  disadvantage  of  coming  not 
pleasantly  recommended. 

We  had  a  comfortable  passage  around  the  Horn.  As 
it  was  the  summer  season,  we  had  abundant  daylight, 
so  we  crept  up  close  to  the  stormy  Cape,  and  had  stud 
ding-sails  set  while  in  sight  of  it.  This  is  something 
that  can  rarely  be  said  of  Cape  Horn,  for  one  is  much 
more  likely  to  be  under  short  canvas  all  the  time  while 
cruising  in  those  seas.  We  reached  Rio  de  Janeiro  in 
due  course  of  time,  and  came  to  anchor  in  its  beautiful 
harbor.  At  the  time  of  which  I  write,  our  Minister  at 
Rio  was  Henry  A.  Wise,  of  Virginia,  who  had  been  a 
Member  of  Congress,  and  was  well  known.  He  had 
been  the  second  of  Graves  when  he  killed  Cilley  in  the 
celebrated  duel  which  was  fought  a  few  years  before. 
Cilley  had  a  son  in  my  class,  and  it  is  said,  with  how 
much  truth  I  do  not  know,  that  the  son  was  at  Rio 
while  Mr.  Wise  was  Minister,  and  that  he  was  in  charge 
of  a  boat  that  conveyed  Mr.  Wise  to  the  ship  on  board 
of  which  Cilley  was  serving  as  a  Midshipman.  The 
Minister's  house  was  the  headquarters  of  the  officers, 
who  visited  there  very  pleasantly.  One  of  his  daugh 
ters  was  married  afterwards  to  Dr.  Garnett  of  the  Navy, 
who  happened  to  be  attached  to  a  ship  which  I  presume 
was  a  good  deal  at  Rio.  There  was  another  American 
family  there,  that  of  the  Naval  Store-keeper  Mr.  Fergu 
son.  He  belonged  to  what  had  been  a  very  useful  class 
of  officers  in  their  time.  They  were  Masters  not  in  the 
line  of  promotion,  employed  as  Naval  Store-keepers  on 
foreign  stations,  and,  indeed,  wherever  they  could  be 
found  useful.  Mr.  Ferguson  was  a  man  of  high  char- 

84 


HOME    AT    LAST 

acter,  strictly  attentive  to  his  duties,  and  filled  with 
great  ability  the  position  which  he  occupied.  I  mention 
him  so  particularly  because  I  had  such  high  respect  for 
him.  His  daughter,  who  was  then  Miss  Kate  Ferguson, 
married  Paymaster  Watson.  They  had  three  children ; 
one  is  now  a  Commander  in  the  Navy,  and  the  daugh 
ters  married,  one  Lieutenant  Miller,  and  the  other  Pay 
master  Rand.  Mr.  Ferguson  was  very  precise  in  his 
manner  of  talking,  and  I  shall  never  forget  his  descrip 
tion  of  some  empty  barrels  which  had  once  contained 
flour.  I  was  a  member  of  the  survey  upon  what  these 
barrels  once  held.  In  Mr.  Ferguson's  description  of  the 
articles  he  said,  "These  barrels  once  contained  flour; 
they  have  been  perforated  by  rats,  and  the  contents 
thereof  destroyed."  It  struck  me  at  the  time  as  being 
such  a  precise  and  quaint  way  of  putting  it  before  us 
that  I  have  never  forgotten  it. 

We  soon  finished  our  preparations  for  the  homeward- 
bound  passage  and  sailed  for  Norfolk,  having  a  delight 
ful  journey  home  through  the  trade- wind  region.  One 
incident  of  the  trip  is  worth  recording ;  it  is  this :  It 
was  my  morning  watch.  The  weather  was  lovely,  the 
trade-winds  blew  fresh,  and  we  were  rattling  along  at 
about  eight  knots  an  hour,  when  a  flying-fish  missed  his 
calculation,  and,  instead  of  passing  over  the  ship  in  his 
flight,  landed  at  my  feet.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight  for 
one  who  had  not  tasted  anything  fresh  for  twenty  days. 
It  can  be  well  conceived  that  I  lost  no  time  in  captur 
ing  him  and  sending  him  down  to  the  cook  to  be  pre 
pared  for  breakfast.  I  need  not  say  that  I  enjoyed  the 
meal.  We  were  a  very  happy  party  when  Cape  Henry 
was  sighted.  I  had  been  absent  from  friends  and  home 
for  more  than  five  years,  and  when  I  landed  in  Norfolk 
I  felt  like  a  stranger  in  my  own  land.  And  now  my 

85 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

long  cruise  was  ended,  and  my  Midshipman  days  prac 
tically  over ;  the  next  thing  was  my  examination.  What 
I  may  term  the  first  part  of  my  career  was  closed  when 
the  Levant  went  out  of  commission  and  the  crew  were 
paid  off. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

At  the  Naval  School  — Life  at  Annapolis  Fifty  Years  Since— After- 
Fortunes  of  the  Class — "Reform  Banquets" — Coast- Survey  Ser 
vice — Washington  Society. 

I  WAS  granted  three  months'  leave  of  absence,  and 
went  to  York,  Pennsylvania,  where  I  passed  the  sum 
mer  of  1847  with  my  mother,  who  resided  there.  A 
portion  of  my  class  was  at  that  time  at  the  Naval 
School  at  Annapolis,  preparing  for  examination.  They 
had  been  there  since  October.  Those  of  us  who  had 
just  returned  to  the  United  States  would  have  lost  the 
advantage  of  half  the  time  which  was  allotted  to  us 
if  we  had  gone  immediately  there  upon  our  arrival  in 
the  country.  We  were  given  the  option  of  either  going 
to  the  school  or  waiting  until  the  coming  October. 
Most  of  us,  if  not  all,  adopted  the  latter  course.  I  re 
mained  at  home  until  October,  and  then  reported  for  in 
struction  at  Annapolis. 

The  "  date  "  of  1841  was  so  large  that  it  was  thought 
best  to  divide  it  into  three  sections;  the  first  section 
was  graduated  in  1847,  the  second  in  1848,  and  the 
third  in  1849.  The  Naval  Academy  was  then  in  its  in 
fancy.  Two  classes  only  had  been  graduated  there — that 
of  1840  and  the  first  part  of  that  of  1841.  We  former 
ly  spoke  of  a  class  as  a  "  date  ";  this  referred  to  the  year 
of  our  entry  into  the  Navy.  Since  those  days  it  has 
been  called  "  class,"  and  the  class  of  such  and  such  a 
year  means  the  year  in  which  it  is  graduated.  The 

87 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Superintendent  of  the  Academy  in  1847  was  Captain 
Upshur.  He  was  a  very  worthy  man,  possessed  of  a 
kindly  nature,  and  exceedingly  conscientious  and  zealous 
in  the  performance  of  his  duties,  and  in  all  respects  a 
most  creditable  Superintendent.  Pie  had  an  unruly  set 
of  devils  to  manage,  for  we  were  no  longer  boys,  most 
of  us  being  more  than  twenty-one  years  of  age.  We 
often  tried  the  old  gentleman  sorely  by  our  youth 
ful  pranks  of  one  kind  and  another,  for,  although  there 
was  an  effort  at  discipline,  we  were  just  at  that  age 
when  we  were  hard  to  control.  I  shall  never  forget 
one  occasion  when  there  had  been  a  row  in  town  be 
tween  some  roughs  and  some  Midshipmen  who  were 
out  on  a  lark.  Word  was  passed  to  those  inside,  and 
nearly  the  whole  class,  armed  with  pokers  and  other 
weapons  which  were  near  at  hand,  rushed  out  to  the 
scene  of  action.  However,  by  the  time  we  reached 
there  quiet  had  been  restored,  and  nothing  more  seri 
ous  than  a  broken  head  or  two  resulted  from  the  fray. 
The  next  morning  the  Superintendent  called  us  all  up, 
and  delivered  to  us  a  lecture  upon  the  impropriety  of 
our  conduct.  He  began  to  lecture  in  such  a  precise  and 
peculiar  manner  that  the  first  phrase  was  long  remem 
bered  and  quoted  by  those  who  desired  to  be  funny  at 
the  old  gentleman's  expense.  It  ran  thus :  "Raining 
as  it  was,  and  sick  as  I  was,  I  was  aroused  from  my 
bed,"  etc. 

The  professors  of  the  Academy  at  that  time  were, 
Chauvenet  in  Mathematics,  Lockwood  in  Navigation 
and  Infantry  tactics,  and  Giraud  in  French ;  Dr.  Lock- 
wood  lectured  to  us  in  Chemistry,  and  some  one  taught 
us  Ward's  Gunnery.  I  went  to  the  Academy  with  the 
advantage  of  having  been  through  a  course  of  Mathe 
matics  extending  through  Analytical  Geometry,  and  in 

88 


MY    TEACHERS    AT    ANNAPOLIS 

Navigation,  and  through  Nautical  Astronomy.  I  had 
therefore  a  fair  knowledge  already  of  the  subjects  in 
which  I  was  to  be  instructed.  I  at  once  took  a  good 
standing  in  the  first  section,  and  maintained  it  during 
the  time  I  was  at  the  Academy.  Professor  Chauvenet, 
our  instructor  in  Mathematics,  had  the  faculty  of  im 
parting  what  he  knew  to  others  in  a  higher  degree 
than  any  man  I  have  ever  known,  and  he  had  also  the 
peculiar  faculty  of  discerning  whether  a  man  at  the 
blackboard  knew  what  he  was  talking  about  or  not. 
He  became,  in  time,  perhaps  the  first  mathematician  in 
this  or  any  other  country.  I  have  always  retained  for 
him  a  most  profound  respect  and  esteem.  His  tran 
scendent  talents  soon  placed  him  beyond  the  compara 
tively  obscure  position  of  a  Professor  of  Mathematics 
in  the  Navy,  and  he  was  transferred  to  a  higher  sphere 
of  usefulness  in  some  Western  institution  of  learning  of 
high  standing,  where  I  believe  he  remained  until  he  died. 
Professor  Lockwood,  who  was  associated  with  Chauve 
net  as  an  instructor  in  the  early  days  of  the  Academy,  is 
still  living.  He  is  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  and  was 
my  shipmate  in  the  Frigate  United  States.  He  taught 
me  about  all  I  knew,  up  to  the  time  I  went  to  the 
Naval  School,  and  I  have  always  felt  under  deep  obli 
gations  to  him  for  the  pains  and  trouble  he  took  to 
instil  into  me  the  rudiments  of  Mathematics,  which  I 
found  afterwards  so  useful.  He  was  associated  with  the 
Academy,  more  or  less,  from  the  time  it  was  established 
until  he  was  retired,  with  the  exception  of  the  time 
when  he  was  with  the  Army  during  the  Civil  War,  in 
which  he  served  as  a  General  officer  of  Volunteers. 
Professors  Chauvenet  and  Lockwood  were  very  impor 
tant  factors  in  the  building-up  of  the  Naval  Academy, 
and  were  largely  instrumental  in  starting  it  with  the 

89 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

high  character  it  has  ever  since  maintained.  The  Pro 
fessor  of  French,  Mr.  Giraud,  was  an  excellent  instruc 
tor,  and  during  the  nine  months  we  were  taught  by  him 
we  became  sufficiently  well  grounded  to  enable  us  to 
pursue  the  study  of  the  language  afterwards  with  great 
advantage. 

When  the  class — as  I  shall  henceforth  call  it,  in  defer 
ence  to  the  custom  now  in  use — assembled  at  Annapolis, 
it  was  placed  in  four  sections,  arranged  for  conven 
ience  alphabetically.  After  a  few  days,  when  the  Pro 
fessors  had  learned  enough  about  us  to  satisfy  them  as 
to  our  qualifications,  we  were  arranged  in  four  sections 
still,  but  now  it  was  according  to  the  knowledge  we  had 
displayed.  It  was  my  good-fortune  to  be  put  in  the  first 
section,  not  because  I  deserved  to  be  there  on  account  of 
special  merit,  but  because  I  had  the  advantage  of  a  Pro 
fessor  on  board  ship,  while  many  of  those  in  the  fourth 
section  had  had  no  such  good -fortune.  Indeed,  there 
were  amongst  the  men  in  that  section,  Midshipmen  of  as 
much  natural  ability  as  those  in  the  first,  but  they  had 
served  in  small  vessels  which  had  no  Professors,  and 
so  had  not  had  the  advantages  that  we  had.  The  whole 
system  of  Naval  education  in  those  days  was  rough  and 
crude,  and  did  not  seem  altogether  fair ;  the  wonder  is  that 
we  got  on  as  well  as  we  did.  My  room-mates  were  John 
Yan  Ness  Philip,  George  E.  Morgan,  and  William  Mer 
cer.  The  first  two  have  been  dead  for  many  years. 
Philip  left  the  Navy,  but  entered  it  again  when  the 
Civil  War  broke  out.  He  died  of  yellow-fever  as  Execu 
tive  officer  of  the  R.  R.  Cuyler.  His  Captain,  known  in 
those  days  as  Frank  Winslow,  died  also.  Strange  to  say, 
they  were  the  only  two  cases  on  board  that  proved  fatal ; 
the  rest  of  the  officers  and  crew  escaped  entirely.  Mor 
gan  died  before  the  War,  on  board  some  ship  of  which 

90 


SOME    OLD    SCHOOLMATES 

he  was  the  Navigating  officer.  Mercer  resigned,  and  I 
think  is  now  living  in  some  place  on  the  Hudson  Eiver. 
We  occupied  room  No.  1,  in  what  was  then  called  Apollo 
Row.  It  should  be  known  that  the  Academy  is  upon 
the  site  of  what  was  once  Fort  Severn,  and  the  only 
accommodations  for  the  Midshipmen  were  the  barracks 
formerly  occupied  by  the  soldiers.  These  barracks  were 
situated  in  different  parts  of  the  enclosure,  which  in 
those  days  was  called  "  the  Yard,"  borrowed,  I  pre 
sume,  from  Navy -Yard.  They  were  in  disconnected 
groups.  Each  group  had  its  designation.  Ours  was 
Apollo  Eow;  then  there  was  Eowdy  Row  and  Brandy- 
wine  Cottage  and  the  Abbey.  These  names  all  had 
some  significance.  Brandywine  Cottage  was  so  called 
because  it  was  occupied  by  Midshipmen  who  had  recently 
returned  from  a  cruise  in  the  Frigate  Brandywine.  The 
Abbey  was  named  by  some  elegant  fellow  who  wished 
to  have  a  high  -  sounding  title  to  his  temporary  home ; 
and  Rowdy  Row  was  so  called  because  it  somehow  hap 
pened  that  the  noisy  and  boisterous  element  always  con 
gregated  there.  I  never  knew  why  Apollo  Row  was  so 
called. 

Most  of  the  men  who  were  with  me  at  the  school  have 
passed  away.  There  were  many  fine  fellows  amongst 
them,  men  who  made  their  mark  in  the  world,  and  be 
came  distinguished  not  only  as  Naval  officers,  but  in  the 
walks  of  civil  life  as  well.  The  names  of  men  who  come 
vividly  before  my  mind  now  are  Pembroke  Jones,  Billy 
Parker,  Allan  McLane,  John  Upshur,  Nag  Hunter,  Gus 
McLaughlin,  and  others  who  stood  prominently  in  the 
foreground.  Jim  Jouett  was  also  there ;  he  was  a  gallant 
fellow,  who  distinguished  himself  at  the  Battle  of  Mobile 
Bay,  and  captured  with  the  Metacomet,  under  his  com 
mand,  the  Confederate  gunboat  Selma.  And  there  was 

91 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Eoe,  who  distinguished  himself  in  a  naval  engagement  in 
Albemarie  Sound,  by  gallantly  dashing  his  wooden  gun 
boat,  the  Sassacus,  into  the  ironclad  Albemarie,  in  an  at 
tempt  to  sink  her.  Both  of  these  latter  became  Rear- 
Admirals,  and  both  are  still  living.  Of  the  men  whom 
I  have  mentioned,  the  one  in  whom  I  have  taken  the 
most  interest  is  Parker.  He  is  still  living,  having  occu 
pied  during  his  career  many  places  of  trust  and  respon 
sibility.  Parker  went  South  when  the  Civil  War  broke 
out,  or  he  would  have  been  a  Eear- Admiral  on  the  re 
tired  list.  He  is  a  charming  fellow  altogether,  and  full 
of  talent.  I  meet  him  now  from  time  to  time,  and  al 
ways  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  Pembroke  Jones 
also  served  in  the  South  during  the  War.  I  do  not  re 
member  whether  he  resigned  before  the  beginning  of 
hostilities  or  not;  he  was  one  of  the  best  men  at  the 
school,  and  it  was  always  a  pleasure  to  hear  him  recite,  he 
was  so  clear  and  thorough.  Chauvenet  rarely  asked  him 
a  question,  but  when  he  finished  would,  in  his  quiet 
way,  say,  "  That  is  sufficient,  sir."  We  always  knew 
that  Jones's  mark  was  about  perfect.  In  those  days 
the  marks  ranged  from  10  to  0.  Now  they  range  from 
4  to  0.  Allan  McLane  was  a  member  of  a  distinguished 
Maryland  family,  to  which  I  had  occasion  to  refer  when 
speaking  of  his  brother  Louis  in  another  part  of  this 
narrative.  He  was  a  fine,  manly  fellow  of  great  good 
sense.  He  did  not  remain  long  in  the  service  after  he 
passed  his  examination,  but  became  identified,  in  one 
way  or  another,  with  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Com 
pany,  and  rose,  by  regular  gradations,  to  its  Presidency. 
When  he  retired  from  that  position  he  went  to  Wash 
ington,  built  a  fine  house  there,  and  made  that  city  his 
place  of  residence  until  he  died,  only  a  few  years  ago. 
He  had  amassed  a  large  fortune,  made,  like  that  of  his 

92 


LIFE    AT    ANNAPOLIS 

brother  Louis,  by  his  individual  exertions.  McLane  was 
a  man  of  excellent  standing  in  the  community  in  which 
he  resided,  and  was  in  all  respects  a  man  of  the  highest 
character.  Gus  McLaughlin,  as  he  was  always  called 
by  his  friends,  was  a  lovely  fellow.  I  was  his  grooms 
man  when  he  married. 

Life  at  the  school  was  pleasant  enough  for  those  of 
us  whose  standing  in  our  classes  warranted  the  feeling 
that  there  was  no  doubt  about  the  final  result  of  our 
examination.  With  those  in  the  fourth  section,  where 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  doubt  in  the  minds  of  many, 
the  nine  months  at  the  school  were  not  passed  on  a  bed 
of  roses.  I  remember  hearing  a  man  say  one  day  that, 
if  he  did  not  pass,  Chauvenet's  wife  would  be  a  widow. 
Of  course  this  was  an  exaggeration,  but  it  proved  to 
me  that  the  state  of  mind  that  many  of  them  were  in 
during  those  trying  days  was  not  a  thing  to  be  envied. 
There  was  a  good  deal  of  dissipation  at  the  school  at 
the  time  I  was  there,  for  checks  upon  our  freedom  of 
action  were  very  few.  There  was  not  much  discipline, 
for,  as  I  have  said  before,  we  were  all  grown  men,  most 
of  us  of  twenty-two  years  of  age  and  upward.  About 
this  time  the  Chartists  were  holding  their  mass-meet 
ings  in  London.  There  was  no  parallelism  between  what 
we  called  our  "  reform  banquets  "  and  the  Chartist  meet 
ings,  but  I  remember  that  it  was  these  meetings  which 
suggested  the  name.  Every  Saturday  night,  for  several 
months,  we  assembled  at  the  room  of  some  choice 
spirit,  where  we  were  regaled  with  whiskey  and  cigars, 
and  crackers  and  cheese,  and  swapped  yarns  and  sang 
songs  until  nearly  midnight.  Towards  that  hour  but 
few  of  the  revellers  were  left.  Those  who  were  sober 
enough  remained,  and  finally  separated,  each  one  going 
his  way  towards  his  quarters ;  and  thus  ended  the  "  re- 

93 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

form  banquet."  I  happened  one  Sunday  morning  to 
be  passing  by  a  room  where  there  had  been  a  banquet 
the  night  before.  Lieutenant  Sidney  Smith  Lee  —  a 
brother  of  Eobert  E.  Lee — who  was  Executive  Officer 
of  the  school,  was  passing  at  the  same  moment.  He 
called  my  attention  to  this  "  banquet  -  hall  deserted," 
and,  raising  his  hands  with  an  air  of  intense  disgust, 
asked  me  if  I  had  ever  witnessed  such  a  sight.  Empty 
bottles  were  lying  about  the  floor,  half-smoked  cigars 
were  scattered  in  all  directions,  chairs  were  turned  up- 
sidedown,  and  everything  in  the  room  indicated  that 
it  had  been  the  scene  of  rollicking  dissipation.  Lieu 
tenant  Lee  was  an  amiable  man,  and,  while  he  deplored 
the  existence  of  such  irregularities,  he  seemed  powerless 
to  prevent  them.  As  I  have  stated  before,  there  was 
little  or  no  discipline  at  the  school  in  those  days.  The 
autumn,  winter,  and  spring  passed  away.  The  days 
resembled  each  other  very  much,  and  I  was  glad  when 
the  time  for  our  examination  was  at  hand.  The  nov 
elty  had  worn  off,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  monoto 
nous,  school-boy  sort  of  life,  varied  by  some  outside  so 
ciety  and  the  Saturday  nights  which  I  have  described 
above. 

The  Board  which  examined  us  assembled  in  June. 
As  well  as  I  can  remember,  the  President  was  Commo 
dore  Morgan.  Two  of  the  Captains  were  Gwin  and 
Armstrong;  there  were  others,  but  they  have  passed 
out  of  my  mind.  The  examination  in  Mathematics  was 
by  printed  questions,  to  which  we  wrote  out  answers. 
They  had  to  be  handed  in  from  our  desks  in  the  exam 
ination  hall  within  a  fixed  time.  The  consequence  was 
that,  if  we  found  much  difficulty  in  any  one  question 
that  was  likely  to  detain  us,  we  were  obliged  to  give  it 
the  go-by  in  order  to  answer  a  reasonable  number  of 

94 


GRADUATION    AND    AFTER-EMPLOYMENT 

the  others.  In  the  examination  for  Seamanship,  each 
Captain  would  take  a  Midshipman  and  give  him  a  long, 
exhaustive  sitting  in  that  branch.  To  any  one  who  had 
given  much  attention  to  the  subject,  it  was  not  very 
difficult,  for  there  were  but  few  questions  in  Seaman 
ship  at  that  time  with  which  an  intelligent  Midshipman 
was  not  more  or  less  familiar.  There  was  no  Professor 
of  Seamanship  at  the  school,  as  there  is  now,  but  we 
drilled  each  other,  and  so  became  pretty  well  posted 
during  the  six  years  of  probation  that  we  had  had  be 
fore  going  to  the  school. 

The  examination  was  over,  and  a  feeling  of  exhilara 
tion  came  upon  me  that  it  is  difficult  to  describe.  I  had 
been  cramming  for  nine  months,  and  the  delight  at  be 
ing  able  to  throw  everything  off  my  mind  was  some 
thing  to  be  experienced  but  not  described.  We  were 
all  happy  except  the  "bilgers."  These  poor  fellows 
had  not  only  the  mortification  of  failure,  but  the  pros 
pect  of  another  nine  months  at  the  school,  for  it  was  the 
rule  to  give  the  "  bilger  "  a  second,  and  I  think  some 
times  a  third,  chance.  My  recollection  is  that  we  were 
all  granted  one  month's  leave,  and  that  we  were  ex 
pected  to  report  for  duty  at  the  end  of  that  time.  I 
was  detailed  for  the  Coast  Survey,  and  about  the  middle 
of  the  summer  joined  the  party  of  Lieutenant  S.  P.  Lee. 
We  worked  off  shore  to  the  southward  of  Cape  Henlopen. 
In  the  spring  and  autumn  we  would  work  in  the  Ches 
apeake  Bay,  and  in  the  winter  be  stationed  in  Washing 
ton.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  party  ;  some  of  the  mem 
bers  of  it  were  men  who  were  well  known  in  their  day. 
Frank  Winslow  was  our  Executive  Officer.  Alexander 
Murray,  Whiting,  Simpson,  Preble,  McLaughlin,  and 
others,  who  have  passed  out  of  my  mind,  also  belonged 
to  it.  Most  of  these  men  became  Eear- Admirals,  and 

95 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

did  good  service.    The  Chief  of  the  party,  Admiral  Lee, 
and  I,  I  believe,  are  the  only  survivors. 

The  people  who  lived  on  the  coast  of  Maryland  and 
Delaware  in  those  days  were  but  one  degree  removed 
from  savages.  They  were  a  cross  between  the  small 
farmer  and  the  wrecker.  They  never  cast  their  eyes  upon 
a  vessel  but  that  the  glance  was  accompanied  with  the 
thought  of  what  a  fine  prize  she  would  be.  I  heard  one 
of  the  principal  men  amongst  them  say  one  day,  upon 
looking  at  our  steamer:  "How  I  would  like  to  wrack 
her."  "We  were  obliged  to  live  with  these  people  while 
we  were  at  work  on  the  coast,  as  we  could  rarely  com 
municate  with  the  vessel  after  the  day's  work  was  over. 
We  did  attempt  camping  out  at  times,  but  our  appli 
ances  were  very  crude,  and  it  was,  if  anything,  a  rougher 
life  than  that  of  living  with  the  natives.  When,  how 
ever,  our  stations  were  near  enough  to  make  it  conven 
ient  to  meet  after  our  work  of  the  day  was  over,  we 
found  it  on  the  whole  pleasant  to  rough  it  in  camp  and 
do  our  own  cooking.  There  was  one  family  with  which 
we  lived  that  exceeded  in  roughness  anything  I  have 
ever  known  in  all  my  experience.  One  day  at  dinner 
one  of  the  young  women  of  the  family  was  helping  to 
some  string-beans.  I  saw  her  examining  the  spoon  with 
which  she  was  serving  them  with  much  interest.  It 
seemed  to  occur  to  her  that  it  wanted  washing;  where 
upon  she  inserted  it  into  her  mouth,  and  it  came  out 
washed.  I  asked  the  person  to  whom  the  beans  were 
served,  and  whose  head  was  turned  away  at  the  time,  if 
he  knew  what  had  occurred.  When  I  told  him  what  it 
was,  he  said :  "  Oh,  you  ought  not  to  see  such  things." 
One  of  the  young  women  of  this  same  family,  relating 
to  me  how  a  schooner  had  come  from  Philadelphia  and 
landed  some  excursionists  near  their  place,  said  that  the 

96 


MRS.    LAMB'S    BOARDING-HOUSE 

schooner  had  "fifty  head  of  girls  on  board."  I  mention 
these  things  to  illustrate  the  crude  condition  of  the  peo 
ple  who  occupied  these  shores  fifty  years  ago.  Since 
then,  there  is  no  doubt  the  school  -  master  has  been 
amongst  them,  and  a  watering-place — Rehoboth  Beach 
— has  risen  where  we  then  had  our  stamping-ground.  Al 
though  these  people  were  wreckers,  they  never  attempt 
ed  to  extort  from  us,  which  will  be  at  once  seen  when  I 
mention  the  fact  that  we  boarded  for  thirty-seven  and 
a  half  cents  a  day  on  fairly  good  food.  When  we  could 
manage  to  camp  together,  the  outside  work  was  pleas 
ant  enough ;  but  when  I  was  alone  with  an  attendant, 
and  was  obliged  to  trudge  two  miles  every  evening  after 
the  day's  work  was  over,  and  then  sleep  in  a  feather-bed, 
eaten  up  by  mosquitoes,  it  was  wretched  enough. 

When  the  working  season  was  over,  our  party  was 
transferred  to  the  Coast  Survey  Office  in  Washington, 
where  we  passed  the  winter.  Simpson  and  I  took  rooms 
together,  and  made  ourselves  very  comfortable.  We 
lived  at  Mrs.  Lamb's  boarding-house,  opposite  Willard's 
Hotel.  The  hotel  in  those  days  was  a  sort  of  head 
quarters  for  officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  a  kind  of 
club,  at  a  time  when  Washington  had  np  clubs  worth 
mentioning.  We  had  a  good  many  visitors  in  our 
quarters,  for  it  was  a  convenient  place  to  drop  into  from 
across  the  street.  Amongst  others  that  we  used  to  see 
a  great  deal  of  were  the  brothers  Hull  and  John  Quincy 
Adams,  both  charming  men,  each  in  his  way,  but  totally 
unlike.  John  died  many  years  ago;  he  went  down  in 
the  Albany,  which  ship  was  never  heard  of  after  leaving 
port.  She  disappeared  somewhere  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  her  fate  is  unknown  to  this  day.  Adams  was  a  bluff, 
sailor-man  sort  of  a  fellow,  a  thorough  gentleman,  al 
ways  well  dressed,  and  was  in  all  respects  a  thoroughly 
Q  97 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

good  man-of-war's  man.  As  an  illustration  of  his  sailor 
way  of  putting  things,  I  will  relate  an  incident  which 
occurred  in  Florence.  He  and  I  formed  a  portion  of  a 
party  that  went  to  the  city  for  a  stay  of  a  few  days. 
When  we  arrived  there  everybody  was  immediately 
making  suggestions  as  to  going  here  and  there  at  once,' 
whereupon  John  Adams  spoke  up  and  said:  "Now  if 
you  will  give  me  this  evening  to  get  the  bearings  and  dis 
tances  of  things,  I  will  go  to  hell  with  you  to-morrow." 
We  all  agreed  that  he  was  right,  and  acted  upon  his 
suggestion.  Hull  Adams  was  the  reverse  of  John  ;  the 
latter  hated  society,  while  Hull  was  devoted  to  it,  and 
was  always  one  of  its  greatest  favorites.  He  was  full  of 
talent,  and  if  his  lot  had  been  cast  in  another  direction 
he  might  have  reached  a  position  of  prominence  in  the 
country,  in  common  with  many  of  the  members  of  the 
distinguished  family  to  which  he  belongs.  One  of  his 
great  attractions  was  the  sweetest  of  tenor  voices.  I 
can  hear  him  now,  as  he  used  to  ring  out  the  words : 

"  O  that  a  Dutchman's  draught  might  be 
As  deep  as  the  rolling  Zuyder  Zee  !" 

He  and  his  sister,  Elizabeth  Adams,  never  married. 
They  have  been  the  warmest  of  friends  and  companions 
for  many  years.  I  am  strongly  of  the  impression  that 
they  are  both  now  living.  If  they  are,  she  must  be 
nearly  ninety,  and  he  cannot  be  very  far  behind  her. 
Both  Hull  and  John  were  great  favorites  in  Washington 
that  winter  amongst  the  hosts  of  fine  fellows  that  formed 
the  male  portion  of  the  society  of  the  city. 

I  went  very  little  into  society  myself  during  the  win 
ter.  I  believe  I  was  a  subscriber  to  the  Assembly  Balls, 
which  were  held  in  the  old  Globe  Building,  somewhere 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Four  and  a  Half  Street,  on  Penn- 


WASHINGTON    SOCIETY    IN    THE    FORTIES 

sylvania  Avenue.  It  was  the  only  dancing-hall  in  Wash 
ington  at  the  time,  except  Carusi's  Saloon,  as  it  was  called, 
and  that  was  a  small  affair.  I  remember  well  some  of 
the  girls  who  figured  at  those  balls,  and  who  are  now 
living.  They  were  charming  girls  then,  they  are  lovely 
old  ladies  now.  If  this  narrative  should  ever  meet  their 
eyes,  they  may  recognize  themselves.  They  are  hardly 
old  enough  yet,  however,  to  be  called  old  ladies,  perhaps 
they  never  will  be.  I  remember  dining  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Gales  that  winter.  Mr.  Gales  was  one  of  the  firm 
of  Gales  &  Seaton  of  the  National  Intelligencer.  There 
were  present  at  the  dinner  besides  the  host  and  hostess, 
Miss  Gales,  Miss  Anne  Lizzie  Buckler,  and  Miss  Anna 
Clarke.  They  are  all  three  now  living.  Miss  Gales, 
who  at  that  time  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  society,  is 
now  a  translator  of  French  and  Spanish  in  the  State 
Department.  She  has  accepted  the  change  in  her  cir 
cumstances  with  the  greatest  good  grace,  and  seems  as 
bright  and  cheerful  now  as  she  did  in  those  far-off  days. 
Miss  Buckler,  of  Baltimore,  married  Kolando,  of  the 
Navy,  who  died  years  ago.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
her  only  a  few  days  since.  Miss  Clarke  is  a  daughter 
of  Matthew  St.  Clair  Clarke,  one  of  the  greatest  wits 
of  his  day ;  she  married  my  brother,  General  Franklin. 
These  ladies,  as  I  said  before,  are  all  living  now,  and 
are  in  fairly  good  health.  They  are  warm  and  devoted 
friends  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER  IX 

On  Foreign  Service— The  Spragues  of  Gibraltar — Commodore  Mor 
gan—Mess  of  His  Flag -ship— Winter  Quarters  — On  Leave  in 
Home — Early  Impressions. 

ASIDE  from  the  Assembly  Balls  and  one  or  two  dan 
cing-parties,  my  recollections  of  that  winter  are  very 
vague.  It  came  to  an  end,  however,  and  time  for  active 
work  on  the  Survey  was  again  approaching.  The  par 
ty  reassembled  somewhere  near  the  mouth  of  the  Pa- 
tuxent  Eiver,  and  began  running  lines  of  soundings 
in  Chesapeake  Bay.  We  had  not  been  employed  many 
days  at  this  work  when  orders  came  detaching  me  from 
the  Coast  Survey  and  ordering  me  to  the  Eazee  Inde 
pendence.  The  Independence  was  fitting  out  at  Nor 
folk  to  be  the  Flag-ship  of  the  Mediterranean  Squadron ; 
and  while  I  was  pleasantly  located  with  the  familiar 
surveying-party,  I  could  not  help  feeling  that  the  pros 
pect  of  a  cruise  in  the  Mediterranean  was  more  allur 
ing  than  the  work  upon  which  I  was  then  engaged.  I 
soon  reported  at  Norfolk  in  obedience  to  my  orders. 
Captain  Conover  was  the  Commanding  Officer,  and  Tom 
Craven,  as  he  was  called  in  those  days,  the  Executive. 
The  ward -room  was  full  to  overflowing.  Beaumont, 
who  was  the  Second  Master  and  Junior  ward -room 
Officer,  was  without  a  room.  "  Beau,"  as  we  called  him, 
was  a  very  amusing  fellow,  the  life  of  the  ward-room 
mess,  but  was  given  to  saying  sharp  things,  and  occa 
sionally  made  enemies ;  he  was  liked,  nevertheless,  by 

100 


GOING    ON    FOREIGN    SERVICE 

nearly  every  one.  Beau  and  I  were  great  friends  dur 
ing  the  cruise.  We  had  one  little  difficulty,  but  we 
soon  made  it  up. 

We  sailed  from  Hampton  Koads  about  the  middle  of 
the  summer  of  1849.  The  steerage  was  composed  of 
two  messes,  the  Passed  Midshipmen  occupied  the  port 
steerage,  and  the  Midshipmen  the  starboard.  We  had 
a  comfortable  mess  and  lived  well.  The  conditions  had 
changed  very  much  since  my  first  cruise,  when  we  were 
all  boys.  Now  we  were  men  verging  on  twenty -five 
years  of  age.  I  do  not  remember  whether  any  of  my 
messmates  ever  attained  to  Flag  rank.  Two  of  the 
ward-room  officers  did,  as  did  also  one  of  the  Midship 
men.  The  three  to  whom  I  refer  were  Craven,  Beau 
mont,  and  Skerrett.  The  Civil  War  intervening,  sent 
some  of  them  South ;  they  became  scattered,  and  I  lost 
the  run  of  them. 

We  had  a  passage  of  about  twenty  days  from  Hamp 
ton  Koads  to  Gibraltar.  The  weather  was  pleasant,  and 
nothing  of  especial  interest  occurred  during  the  run. 
At  that  time  the  Consul  at  Gibraltar  was  Mr.  Sprague, 
father  of  the  present  incumbent.  Father  and  son  have 
filled  the  Consular  office  at  that  place  for  about  seven 
ty  years.  I  do  not  remember  the  father,  but  tradition 
has  handed  him  down  as  a  man  of  the  highest  char 
acter,  who  filled  the  position  he  occupied  with  rare  abil 
ity.  His  son,  Horatio  Sprague,  I  have  known  more  or 
less  intimately  for  many  years,  and  it  gives  me  much 
pleasure  to  say  that  I  have  never  in  all  my  experience 
known  a  Consulate  that  stood  higher  than  that  of 
Gibraltar  as  administered  by  Mr.  Sprague.  He  has 
always  been  a  great  favorite  with  the  British  officials, 
as  well  on  account  of  his  high  character  as  a  gentleman 
as  for  the  ability  with  which  he  discharges  the  duties 

101 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

of  his  office.  To  the  travelling  Americans  who  happen 
to  go  to  Gibraltar  he  is  always  kind  and  courteous; 
and  when  we  have  sick  officers  or  seamen  in  the  Gov 
ernment  Hospitals,  he  very  rarely  permits  a  day  to  pass 
without  visiting  them  in  person  and  seeing  that  all 
their  wants  are  attended  to.  I  trust  that  he  will  live 
yet  many  years  to  do  honor  to  the  country  which  he 
represents  with  so  much  credit  and  ability,  as  well  as 
to  the  Consular  Corps,  of  which  he  is  an  old  and  distin 
guished  member.  Mr.  Sprague  was  always  doing  some 
thing  that  made  him  agreeable  to  me  during  the  many 
times  I  visited  Gibraltar  in  the  course  of  my  cruising ;  it 
was  either  a  dinner  at  his  house,  or  a  picnic  at  his  coun 
try-place,  or  something  to  make  my  time  pass  agreeably 
at  the  Rock.  He  was  always  invited  to  the  official  dinners 
that  were  given  to  our  Admirals,  and  no  dinner  given  to 
us  at  the  Rock  ever  seemed  complete  without  the  pres 
ence  of  Mr.  Sprague.  If  our  Consular  Service  was  made 
subject  to  the  Civil  Service  rules,  and  its  members  formed 
a  permanent  Corps,  our  interests  would  be  much  better 
cared  for,  and  men  like  Mr.  Sprague  would  be  more 
frequently  encountered.  Any  one  who  has  had  much 
to  do  with  our  Consuls  abroad  is  entirely  satisfied  that 
the  system  as  at  present  administered  is  a  dismal  failure ; 
and,  as  long  as  these  offices  continue  to  be  the  refuge 
of  the  spoilsmen,  the  inefficiency  of  the  incumbents  will 
continue.  I  am  glad  to  know,  however,  that  there  is  a 
project  on  foot  to  improve  the  system,  and  to  place  it 
upon  a  basis  calculated  to  reflect  credit  upon  its  pro 
moters  as  well  as  upon  the  country. 

The  Independence  did  not  remain  long  at  Gibraltar. 
We  sailed  for  Spezzia,  which  was  then  the  headquar 
ters  of  the  Squadron.  Here  we  found  the  steam  Frig 
ate  Mississippi,  with  Commodore  Morgan  on  board.  He 

102 


COMMODORE    MORGAN 

shifted  his  flag  to  the  Independence,  and  henceforth  she 
became  the  Flag-ship.  Commodore  Morgan  was  one  of 
the  most  interesting  Naval  characters  of  the  day.  He 
had  served  in  the  War  of  1812,  on  board  the  Constitution, 
and  had  many  curious  stories  to  relate  of  those  historic 
times.  I  do  not  know  what  his  age  was,  but  he  seem 
ed  to  me,  as  I  look  back,  very  old  for  his  years,  or  for 
what  ought  to  have  been  his  age.  He  was  extremely 
gouty,  and  moved  about  with  difficulty ;  but  as  no  great 
activity  was  necessary  to  command  a  Squadron  in  time  of 
peace,!  presume  he  made  what  in  those  days  might  have 
been  considered  a  very  fair  Commander -in -Chief.  He 
seemed  to  me  to  be  a  man  of  intelligence,  had  a  good 
deal  of  humor,  and  was  a  good  judge  of  character.  His 
letters  to  the  Department  were  all  well  written  and  the 
subjects  well  thought  out.  He  was  personally  attrac 
tive,  and  any  one  who  was  intimately  associated  with 
him,  as  I  was,  could  not  help  liking  him.  I  was  at  one 
time  on  his  staff,  so  that  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  him  and 
his  family.  At  this  time  he  was  married  to  his  second 
wife,  who  was  a  charming  woman,  the  daughter  of  Mr. 
Eitchie,  who  had  been  our  Consul  at  Madrid.  She  had 
been  intimately  thrown  with  Washington  Irving,  and 
in  my  conversations  with  her  about  him  she  conveyed 
to  my  mind  a  most  pleasing  impression  of  that  distin 
guished  writer.  There  were  two  children  by  this  mar 
riage,  and  although  there  was  considerable  disparity  in 
years  between  the  Commodore  and  Mrs.  Morgan,  yet, 
on  the  whole,  it  was  a  very  happy,  interesting  family. 

The  Mediterranean  Squadron  at  this  time  consisted 
of  three  large  Frigates — the  Independence,  the  Cumber 
land,  and  the  old  Constitution — the  Steamship  Missis 
sippi,  and  the  Sloop  Jamestown.  The  coming  together 
of  the  Squadron  produced  a  great  many  changes.  Some 

103 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

officers  were  invalided  home,  and  Passed  Midshipmen 
were  promoted  to  fill  vacancies  thus  created.  Amongst 
others  so  promoted  was  Nelson,  who  became  a  General 
of  Volunteers  during  the  Civil  War.  Every  one  at  all 
familiar  with  those  times  will  remember  that  he  was 
shot  to  death  by  Jefferson  C.  Davis.  Nelson  was  pro 
moted  from  the  Mississippi  and  ordered  to  the  Inde 
pendence  as  Second  Master,  Beaumont  becoming  First. 
Nelson  stood  more  than  six  feet  in  his  stockings,  and 
was  otherwise  very  large.  Lieutenant  George  Chap 
man,  one  of  the  greatest  wits  of  the  day,  used  to  speak 
of  the  two  as  Beaumont  and  Flesher.  I  was  very  fond 
of  Nelson,  but  I  do  not  think  he  was  popular  with  his 
comrades.  He  knew  a  great  deal  himself,  and  had  a 
very  unpleasant  way  of  telling  others  how  little  they 
knew.  I  presume  it  was  this  peculiarity  which  caused 
him  to  meet  his  death  in  the  manner  he  did.  I  think,  in 
his  quarrel  with  Davis,  he  told  him  that  he  was  sur 
prised  that  a  graduate  of  West  Point  should  possess  so 
little  knowledge  about  the  military  point  which  they 
were  discussing.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  if  Nelson 
had  lived  he  would  have  greatly  distinguished  himself 
during  the  Civil  War.  Mr.  Lincoln  used  to  speak  of  him 
and  the  late  Admiral  Carter  as  his  web -foot  Generals. 
Nelson  was  a  great  talker,  and  had  at  command  a  good 
deal  of  native  wit.  No  one  surpassed  him  in  an  after- 
dinner  speech,  and,  take  him  all  in  all,  he  was  an  exceed 
ingly  clever  man.  I  could  never  understand  whether 
he  was  getting  off  a  practical  joke  upon  our  Minister 
at  Naples,  or  whether  he  thought  that  he  was  giving 
him  the  proper  advice ;  at  all  events,  he  told  the  Min 
ister  that  when  he  went  to  court  he  should  wear  his 
sword  on  the  right  side,  emblematic  of  his  peaceful  call 
ing,  which  I  believe  he  really  did.  Nelson  was  fond  of 

104 


JOE    BRADFORD 

a  joke,  for  I  remember  being  with  him  at  a  party  in 
Naples  when  some  lady  standing  at  his  side,  and  hav 
ing  nothing  more  interesting  to  say,  asked  him  who  I 
was;  whereupon  he  replied:  "Why,  do  you  not  know 
who  that  is  ?  He  is  the  grandson  of  our  great  Benja 
min  Franklin."  "  Ah,  yes,"  she  replied,  "  I  see  the  like 
ness  at  once."  One  or  two  rather  amusing  stories  were 
told  of  him  when  he  was  in  Washington  on  the  eve  of 
the  Civil  War.  Being  a  Kentuckian,  he  was  supposed 
to  have  Southern  sympathies.  On  one  occasion  somebody 
said  to  him :  "  Now,  Nelson,  you  are  from  Marysville, 
Kentucky ;  suppose  you  were  ordered  down  there  to  fire 
into  your  native  town."  Nelson  replied,  without  hesi 
tation  :  "  Nothing  would  give  me  greater  pleasure  than 
to  knock  that  place  down,  for  it  is  the  d — dest,  meanest 
place  in  the  whole  country."  On  another  occasion  he 
was  in  the  company  of  some  South  Carolinians  who 
were  expressing  their  views  about  the  situation  very 
freely,  when  he  said,  "If  the  President  will  give  me 
one  thousand  men  and  as  many  shovels,  I  will  go  down 
and  shovel  South  Carolina  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean." 

One  of  my  messmates,  whom  I  remember  with  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure,  was  Joe  Bradford.  He  was  a  sort  of 
connection  of  the  Commodore,  and  was  one  of  my  pred 
ecessors  on  his  staff.  He  was  a  gallant  fellow,  and 
had  fought  a  duel  with  a  man  whose  name  I  think  was 
Comegys ;  Bradford  had  a  very  narrow  escape,  and 
came  near  losing  the  number  of  his  mess.  He  was 
struck  in  the  chest,  but  the  bullet  glanced  from  his 
breastbone  without  penetrating.  It  was  a  close  call, 
and  he  carried  the  scar  to  his  grave.  Although  a  fine 
character,  he  was  not  very  popular  with  his  messmates. 
He  was  at  times  bitterly  sarcastic,  and  was  withal  a 
good  deal  of  what  we  call  on  board  ship  "  a  growl."  I 

105 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

remember  the  caterer  of  our  mess  threatening  one  day 
to  get  a  dog  and  tie  him  to  the  stanchion  as  a  set-off 
against  his  growling.  Bradford  did  good  service  dur 
ing  the  Civil  War.  He  was  Chief  of  Staff  to  Admiral 
Dahlgren,  and  served  with  great  energy  and  ability.  I 
often  met  him  after  the  cruise  was  over,  and  always 
with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  We  were  once  at  the 
Old  Sweet  Springs  in  Virginia  together;  one  day  he 
took  it  into  his  head  that  he  wanted  to  drive  over  to 
the  White  Sulphur.  He  had  some  difficulty  in  getting 
a  conveyance,  when  as  a  last  resource  he  asked  the  son 
of  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel,  who  was  a  great  swell,  if 
he  could  assist  him  in  getting  a  buggy.  I  presume  that 
the  young  man  thought  that  Bradford  took  him  for  a 
livery-stable  man,  for  he  replied :  "  Do  you  wish  to  in 
sult  me  ?"  whereupon  Bradford  replied :  "  I  would  like 
to  know  who  you  are  before  I  answer  that  question." 
The  young  man  then  said :  "  My  name  is  Norval."  Brad 
ford  at  once  replied  by  asking  him  if  he  was  a  son  of 
the  man  who  fed  his  flocks  on  the  Grampian  Hills.  Of 
course  young  Norval  was  very  much  infuriated  by  this 
time,  and  told  Bradford  that  he  was  not,  but  that  he 
was  a  fighting  man,  whereupon  the  former  said :  "  I 
am  not  a  fighting  man,  but  am  in  the  peaceful  pursuit 
of  a  buggy."  The  matter  was  noised  about  the  Springs, 
Bradford's  ready  reply  about  the  Grampian  Hills  took 
with  every  one,  and  he  was  the  lion  of  the  hour.  There 
is  another  anecdote  about  Bradford  which  I  cannot  help 
relating.  We  were  beating  up  the  Adriatic  against  a 
strong  wind  called  a  Bora.  He  was  officer  of  the  deck, 
and  was  working  the  ship  very  satisfactorily.  The  First 
Lieutenant  was  an  officious  fellow  that  Bradford  did 
not  like.  He  happened  to  see  him  through  the  corner 
of  his  eye  letting  go  a  rope.  The  Lieutenant  did  not 

106 


DUVAL    AND    ROCHELLE 

know  that  he  had  been  seen,  so  Bradford  gave  himself 
a  little  time,  when,  turning  to  one  of  the  mizzen-top 

men,  he  said,  "  What  d d  chuckle-head  let  go  that 

weather  vang  [rope]  ?"  "  Oh !  I  did  that,"  said  the  First 
Lieutenant ;  when  Bradford  said,  "  Oh !  I  beg  your  par 
don,"  knowing  of  course  all  the  time  who  had  done  it. 
Some  one  heard  the  Lieutenant  say  a  few  moments  after 
wards,  "  These  Passed  Midshipmen  are  a  d d  sight  too 

smart."  Bradford  did  not  long  survive  the  Civil  War.  He 
died  of  heart  disease,  from  which  he  had  suffered  for  years. 

Before  proceeding  with  this  narrative  of  the  cruise,  I 
must  mention,  for  my  own  satisfaction,  my  old  class 
mates,  Duval  and  Rochelle.  Duval  was  a  good  deal 
older  than  the  rest  of  us,  and  it  was  said  that  he  had 
been  a  Postmaster  before  he  was  appointed  a  Midship 
man.  He  was  an  immense  man,  and  was  one  of  those 
always  trotted  out  when  any  one  wanted  to  see  the 
little  Midshipmen ;  a  man  of  genial,  kind  temperament, 
as  all  will  testify  who  knew  him  in  those  days.  I  lost 
sight  of  him  after  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War.  He 
was  from  North  Carolina.  Eochelle  was  a  gallant  fel 
low,  a  Virginian,  who,  like  Duval,  went  with  his  State. 
He  had  a  certain  amount  of  dry  humor,  and  when  we 
spoke  of  the  President's  message  at  any  time,  and  were 
discussing  its  merits,  he  would  say,  "  That  is  all  very 
well,  but  wait  until  you  read  the  message  of  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Virginia."  I  heard  of  him  during  the  Civil 
War,  and  think  he  did  good  service  in  the  Confederacy. 

The  Independence  did  not  cruise  much  during  the 
autumn  of  1849.  She  went  into  winter  quarters  in  the 
harbor  of  Baias,  a  small  seaport  not  far  from  the  Bay  of 
Naples.  Here  we  made  every  preparation  for  a  pro 
tracted  stay,  for  it  was  not  usual  for  the  ships  of  war  of 
any  nation  to  cruise  during  the  winter  in  the  Mediterra- 

107 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

nean  unless  there  was  some  urgent  necessity  ;  they  were 
kept  in  harbor,  for  it  is  a  stormy  sea  from  December  to 
March,  and  the  wear  and  tear  upon  cruisers  was  very 
great.  In  the  summer  the  weather  is  fine,  and  the 
cruising  is  done  in  that  season.  It  was  formerly  said 
that  the  Mediterranean  had  but  four  harbors — June, 
July,  August,  and  Port  Mahon.  The  winter  at  Baias 
was  dull  enough.  The  trip  to  Naples  was  attended  with 
a  certain  amount  of  trouble  and  expense,  so  with  us 
Passed  Midshipmen  it  was  not  often  made.  I  took  a 
month's  leave  of  absence,  and  went  to  Home,  accom 
panied  by  a  classmate,  Gilmor  Hoffman.  There  were 
no  railroads,  and  it  was  necessary  to  choose  between  a 
poor  steamer  to  Civita  Yecchia  and  the  diligence  direct 
to  Rome.  "We  chose  the  latter  method.  It  took  a  lori£ 

o 

time  to  go,  travelling  by  night  as  well  as  by  day.  Be 
sides  Hoffman  and  myself,  William  Butler  Duncan,  who 
afterwards  became  a  prominent  banker  in  New  York, 
was  one  of  our  party.  There  was  a  Mr.  Ronalds,  of 
whom  we  saw  a  great  deal  while  in  Rome,  and  I  have 
always  been  under  the  impression  that  he  afterwards 
became  the  husband  of  the  famous  Mrs.  Ronalds,  who 
was  well  known  in  Europe  some  years  ago,  and  was  re 
markable  for  her  beauty. 

When  we  reached  Rome,  Hoffman  and  I  took  rooms 
in  the  Via  Condotti,  and  dined  at  the  Hotel  d'Angle- 
terre.  Our  hostess  was  a  pretty  little  Roman  matron, 
who  took  excellent  care  of  us,  and  gave  us  the  freshest 
of  eggs  and  the  best  of  coffee  for  breakfast.  We  passed 
our  time,  as  most  tourists  do,  visiting  churches,  and 
ruins  of  baths,  and  picture-galleries  without  end.  We 
always  brought  up  about  one  o'clock  in  the  Piazza  del 
Popolo,  where  there  was  a  place  of  refreshment,  well 
known  in  those  days,  the  name  of  which  I  have  now 

108 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  WINTER  IN  ROME 

forgotten ;  it  was  a  place  to  see  everybody.  We  always 
took  a  curious  kind  of  luncheon,  consisting  of  delicious 
pastry  and  brandy -and -water.  After  this  we  would 
sally  out  again  in  the  afternoon,  and  always  finish  with 
a  visit  to  St.  Peter's.  I  think  it  is  the  rule  with  tourists 
to  visit  St.  Peter's  every  day ;  at  all  events,  it  was  at 
that  time.  It  seemed  to  me  to  grow  in  grandeur  every 
time  I  passed  its  portals,  and  I  never  tired  of  roaming 
about  this  vast  structure,  filled  with  so  much  that  is 
beautiful  in  painting  and  sculpture,  the  grandest  monu 
ment  on  earth  to  the  great  Church  which  erected  it. 
The  Holy  Father  was  not  in  Rome,  but  an  exile  in  Na 
ples.  All  Europe  had  run  wild  with  revolutionary 
frenzy,  and  while  Pius  IX.  was  most  liberal  in  his  views, 
the  revolution  went  beyond  him,  and  he  was  obliged  to 
fly  to  Portici,  where  the  King  of  Naples  had  placed  one 
of  his  palaces  at  his  disposal.  The  French,  under  Gen 
eral  Baraguay  d'Hilliers,  were  in  charge  of  the  Govern 
ment.  The  Roman  revolution  had  been  put  down,  but 
the  French  Government  had  not  yet  found  the  time  ripe 
for  the  return  of  the  Pope.  This  was  in  the  winter  of 
1849-50.  I  think  he  went  back  soon  afterwards. 

We  happened  to  be  in  Rome  during  the  Carnival,  and 
witnessed  the  procession  of  carriages  in  the  Corso,  the 
throwing  of  confetti,  etc.  While  we  were  looking  on 
from  our  balcony,  we  saw  the  Corso  instantly  cleared 
by  the  military.  The  cause  of  this  was  that  an  infernal 
machine  of  some  kind  had  been  thrown  into  the  car 
riage  of  Prince  Canino.  The  Prince,  who  belonged  to 
the  Bonaparte  family,  had  taken  sides  with  the  Liber 
als.  He  had  been  warned,  I  believe,  not  to  take  part  in 
the  procession,  and  was  told  that  if  he  did,  something 
terrible  might  happen.  He  did  not  heed  the  advice,  and 
the  consequence  was  what  I  have  just  stated.  Fortu- 

109 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

nately,  no  one  was  hurt,  although  the  torpedo  exploded 
upon  impact  in  the  carriage.  I  believe  the  matter  was 
dropped,  for  I  never  heard  of  it  again. 

Our  Minister  at  Rome  at  this  time  was  Mr.  Cass,  son 
of  Lewis  Cass,  the  well-known  American  statesman.  He 
was  very  much  respected,  not  only  by  the  authorities, 
but  by  the  Americans  residing  in  and  passing  through 
Rome.  It  was  during  this  visit  that  I  first  knew  Mr. 
Hooker,  then  a  young  banker  just  rising  into  promi 
nence.  I  met  him  years  afterwards,  a  well-known,  pros 
perous  man,  very  much  respected  and  liked  by  every 
one.  He  died  only  a  few  years  ago.  I  fancy  that  most 
Americans  who  have  visited  Rome  during  the  last  forty 
years  knew  Mr.  Hooker,  and  many  of  them  have  been 
the  recipients  of  his  kindness  and  attention. 

The  time  had  now  arrived  for  returning  to  the  ship. 
I  had  seen  the  Eternal  City  ;  and  although  I  have  visited 
it  several  times  since,  I  feel  that  the  impression  made 
upon  me  then  has  been  more  lasting  than  that  of  any 
of  my  more  recent  visits.  The  greatest  cathedral  in  the 
world  stamped  itself  upon  my  mind  so  firmly  that  its 
image  has  never  been  effaced,  while  the  memories  of  the 
Apollo  Belvedere,  the  Laocoon,  the  Transfiguration,  and 
the  Beatrice  Cenci  have  been  a  joy  forever.  I  have 
seen  them  often  since,  but  this  first  sight  of  them  in  my 
youth  fixed  them  indelibly  upon  my  mind.  The  work 
of  art  of  all  others  which  seemed  to  have  taken  the 
strongest  hold  upon  me  was  the  Apollo  Belvedere.  I 
often  went  to  the  gallery  of  the  Vatican,  and  would  find 
myself  continually  returning  to  this  beautiful  statue,  to 
have  another  look  at  it  before  I  left  the  Palace.  It 
seems  to  me  that  this  instinctive  yearning  to  see  over 
and  over  again  a  great  work  of  art  is  of  itself  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  great  merit  which  it  possesses. 

110 


CHAPTER  X 

In  the  Adriatic — A  Royal  Visit — Fun  at  Spezzia — Leghorn  and  Flor 
ence — Naples  under  Bomba — Balls  at  the  Academy — The  San  Carlo 
— Pompeii  and  Vesuvius — A  Mournful  Accident. 

DURING  the  following  two  years  we  cruised  about  the 
Mediterranean,  going  as  far  west  as  Lisbon,  and  as  far 
east  as  Trieste.  I  shall  not  undertake  to  follow  the  ship 
in  her  passages  from  port  to  port,  for,  as  I  write  from 
memory,  it  would  be  a  difficult  thing  to  do,  nor  would 
it  be  especially  interesting  to  any  one  who  should  hap 
pen  to  peruse  these  pages.  In  those  days  of  sailing- 
ships  (with  the  light  summer  winds  of  the  Mediterra 
nean)  it  took  a  long  time  to  get  about,  and  we  visited 
the  same  ports  over  and  over  again,  our  cruising  being 
confined  principally  to  the  coast  of  Italy.  I  think  there 
was  some  diplomatic  reason  for  our  going  to  Lisbon ; 
I  remember  that  our  Minister,  Mr.  Clay,  who  was  a  son 
of  the  great  statesman  Henry  Clay,  took  passage  with 
us  into  the  Mediterranean  when  we  left  there. 

The  cruise  up  the  Adriatic  as  far  as  Trieste  was 
made  owing  to  some  misunderstanding  which  occurred 
between  the  Captain  of  one  of  our  ships  and  the  Aus 
trian  authorities,  while  that  ship  was  on  a  visit  to 
Trieste.  The  Commodore  considered  the  matter  so  se 
rious  that  he  felt  it  necessary  to  go  there  in  person,  in 
order  to  do  away  with  the  unpleasant  impression  that 
had  been  made  by  his  Captain.  The  old  gentleman  suc 
ceeded  in  making  himself  very  agreeable  to  the  Aus- 

lll 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

trians,  and  when  we  left  the  entente  cordiale  had  been 
entirety  restored. 

It  was  not  common  for  so  large  a  vessel  as  the  Inde 
pendence  to  visit  Trieste.  Thousands  and  thousands  of 
people  from  all  around  the  country  came  on  board,  to 
see  what  they  considered  a  great  curiosity.  Peasants 
who  had  never  before  seen  such  a  sight  came  from 
Croatia  and  Dalmatia,  and  the  numerous  provinces 
around  the  head  of  the  Adriatic.  Not  only  did  the 
peasantry  come,  but  we  had  also  many  distinguished 
visitors,  among  others  the  King  of  Saxony  and  the 
Ban  of  Croatia,  the  same  prince  who  assisted  the  Aus- 
trians  so  effectually  in  putting  down  the  Hungarian 
Kevolution.  He  brought  with  him  his  wife,  a  very  beau 
tiful  woman ;  and  the  Commodore,  as  he  escorted  her 
around  the  ship,  moved  his  gouty  legs  over  the  ground 
with  much  more  agility  than  was  his  usual  custom.  The 
old  gentleman  had  been  a  great  gallant  in  his  youth, 
and  this  beautiful  Princess  seemed  to  have  inspired  him 
with  some  of  his  old-time  sprightliness.  The  King  of 
Saxony  again  stirred  the  old  gentleman  up  to  extraor 
dinary  exertions.  We  were  all  in  full  uniform  to  re 
ceive  the  King,  and  while  assembled  at  the  starboard 
gangway,  expecting  him  to  come  on  that  side,  the  Com 
modore,  discovering  suddenly  that  he  was  making  for 
the  port  ladder,  rushed  about  as  wildly  as  his  legs  would 
let  him,  and  "  shooed  "  us  all  over  to  the  other  side  with 
an  exclamation — "  Don't  you  see  the  King  coming  on 
that  side  ?"  The  yards  were  manned,  and  all  the  proper 
honors  were  paid,  and  I  think  His  Majesty  went  away 
very  much  pleased.  The  Commodore,  as  I  have  inti 
mated  before,  was  a  very  queer  character.  It  was  often 
difficult  to  determine  whether  he  was  joking  or  in  ear 
nest.  He  had  been  accustomed  to  the  usages  of  good 

112 


MORGAN    AT    TRIESTE 

society  all  his  life,  but  in  showing  the  King  around  the 
ship,  instead  of  addressing  him  according  to  the  well- 
received  usage  in  communicating  with  majesty,  as  "  Your 
Majesty,"  he  would  say,  "  Step  this  way,  King,  if  you 
please  ";  or,  "  Let  me  help  you  down  this  hatch,  King." 
I  never  could  quite  understand  whether  it  was  droll 
ery  on  his  part  or  not.  The  Commodore  was  a  great 
tobacco-chewer,  and  one  day  when  he  was  going  to  dine 
with  His  Majesty  I  happened  to  be  the  officer  of  the 
boat  which  was  conveying  him  to  the  shore.  Drayton, 
his  Flag  Lieutenant,  I  observed,  was  watching  him  with 
great  interest,  and  the  reason  was  that  we  were  getting 
very  close  to  the  place  where  he  was  to  dine  with  the 
King,  and  yet  he  was  chewing  tobacco,  with  all  the  evi 
dences  of  it  around  the  corners  of  his  mouth.  Drayton 
could  stand  it  no  longer,  and  called  his  attention  to  it. 
The  old  gentleman  apologized,  and,  with  the  aid  of  sev 
eral  pocket  -  handkerchiefs,  made  himself  presentable. 
He  dined  a  large  number  of  Austrian  officers  one  day, 
as  a  sort  of  wind-up  to  the  festivities  prior  to  our  sailing 
away  for  the  coast  of  Italy.  They  were  all  pretty  well 
filled  with  wine  by  the  time  dinner  was  over,  and  ad 
journed  to  the  poop-deck.  He  presented  a  most  comical 
appearance,  with  his  wig  slued  one  side,  and  his  eye, 
which  always  looked  as  if  it  were  glass,  rolling  around 
in  the  most  quizzical  manner.  He  was  surrounded  by 
Austrians,  who  seemed  all  to  be  talking  to  him  at  the 
same  time.  He  was  backing  away  from  them,  as  they 
were  gesticulating  at  him,  until  he  reached  the  end 
of  the  poop,  and  could  go  no  farther  without  going 
overboard,  when  he  threw  up  his  hands  in  despair, 

exclaiming:  "I  don't  understand  a  d d  word  you 

say !"  I  do  not  know  whether  they  understood  or  ap 
preciated  what  he  said,  but  to  me,  as  I  looked  on,  it 

H  113 


MEMORIES    OF    A  REAR-ADMIRAL 

seemed  as  if  he  was  tired  to  death  with  their  German 
talk. 

The  Independence  passed  a  good  deal  of  her  time  at 
Spezzia.  The  Squadron  was  continually  going  there  for 
provisions.  The  Sardinian  Government  had  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  our  Government  some  unoccupied  build 
ings  at  the  Lazaretto,  which  were  generally  well  stored 
with  beef  and  pork  and  other  provisions,  as  well  as 
Naval  stores  of  all  kinds.  Our  Store-keeper  was  a  most 
efficient  man  of  the  name  of  Spaulding.  He,  as  well 
as  his  successor  (Colonel  Long),  will  be  long  remembered 
by  any  Naval  officer  who  happened  to  be  there  at  the 
time  under  mention.  There  was  very  little  to  interest 
us  in  Spezzia.  It  was  an  exceedingly  dull  Italian  town, 
though  beautifully  situated  on  a  Bay  of  the  same  name, 
surrounded  by  the  most  beautiful  scenery.  From  the 
ship  the  white  marble  of  the  quarries  of  Carrara  was 
full  in  sight,  and  its  contrast  with  the  soft  blue  tinge 
of  the  Italian  mountains  formed  one  of  the  finest  bits 
of  scenery  I  have  ever  looked  upon.  There  was  but 
little  to  tempt  us  to  the  village  itself ;  but  at  the  Laza 
retto,  where  we  generally  anchored,  about  five  miles 
from  town,  there  resided  a  family  of  the  name  of  Bolero. 
The  Commessario,  as  he  was  called,  had  charge  of  the 
Lazaretto,  and  the  dwelling  in  which  he  lived  consisted 
of  a  number  of  very  large  rooms,  and  was  indeed  a  sort 
of  an  Italian  palazzo.  So,  instead  of  going  to  Spezzia, 
we  passed  nearly  all  of  our  evenings  at  the  house  of  the 
Commessario.  The  family  consisted  of  Madame  Bolero 
and  four  daughters,  who  were  interesting,  pleasing  girls. 
We  would  take  some  of  the  bandsmen — just  enough  to 
play  dance-music — with  us,  put  them  in  one  of  the  large 
rooms  to  which  I  have  referred,  and  dance  in  any  other. 
AVe  would  keep  it  up  night  after  night  until  eleven  or 

114 


LEGHORN    FIFTY    YEARS    AGO 

twelve  o'clock.  How  the  four  girls  stood  it  I  cannot 
imagine,  for  there  were  generally  ten  or  twelve  of  us, 
and  the  girls  were  obliged  to  do  duty  for  all.  Catta- 
rina,  whom  I  remember  now  with  a  great  deal  of  pleas 
ure,  who  was  the  prettiest  and  brightest  of  all,  was  my 
especial  favorite,  and  as  she  seemed  to  appreciate  my 
liking  for  her,  I  think  I  had  more  than  my  share  of 
the  dancing.  The  old  people  fell  into  the  American 
ways,  and  permitted  their  daughters  to  walk  with  us, 
even  going  so  far  as  to  let  Cattarina  correspond  with 
me.  They  all  learned  more  or  less  English,  and  Catta- 
rina's  letters  were  very  quaint  in  their  broken-English 
style.  She  became  engaged  to  an  Italian  Naval  officer, 
a  very  nice  fellow,  the  son  of  an  Admiral ;  but  this  en 
gagement  was  broken,  and  she  afterwards  married  the 
Captain  of  a  transport,  which  was  employed  soon  after 
in  conveying  troops  and  stores  to  the  Crimea.  After 
leaving  the  Mediterranean,  I  never  saw  anything  of  the 
family  again,  and  entirely  lost  trace  of  them. 

Occasionally  we  anchored  off  Leghorn.  The  break 
water  had  not  then  been  constructed,  so  it  was  neces 
sary  to  anchor  a  great  way  off,  and  we  generally  found 
it  very  rough  getting  to  and  from  the  shore.  It  is  a 
blowy  hole,  and  the  passage  back  and  forth,  when  the 
boats  were  crowded,  was  attended  with  considerable 
risk.  Since  then  an  extensive  mole  has  been  built, 
and  it  is  now  one  of  the  safest  and  best  harbors  in  the 
Mediterranean.  Leghorn,  many  years  ago,  was  settled 
by  a  rough  set,  but  no  traces  of  its  rowdy  origin  seemed 
to  be  left  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  and  the  sea-bath 
ing  is  perhaps  more  celebrated  than  any  other  in  the 
Mediterranean.  People  go  from  all  parts  of  Italy  to 
bathe  in  the  beautiful  blue  sea  which  washes  its  shores. 
Leghorn  can  also  boast  of  one  of  the  finest  hotels  in 

115 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Europe — the  Grand  Hotel.  It  was  built  and  is  owned 
by  a  friend  of  mine,  Signer  Fabricotti,  and  although  it 
does  not  pay  expenses  in  the  winter,  yet  he  keeps  it  open 
all  the  year  round,  and  the  London  Times  can  be  read 
there  every  day  of  the  year.  Fabricotti  built  this  hotel 
rather  as  a  monument  to  his  family  than  with  the  expec 
tation  of  making  money  out  of  it.  He  is  a  very  rich 
man,  and  his  family  have  been  the  possessors  of  the 
quarries  of  Carrara  marble  for  more  than  five  hundred 
years. 

In  the  year  1850,  and  perhaps  some  years  before  that, 
there  was  a  railway  from  Leghorn  to  Florence.  I  think 
every  one  took  advantage  of  the  easy  way  in  which  this 
beautiful  city  could  be  reached.  I  was  one  of  a  party 
to  make  the  journey  to  which  I  have  referred  before  in 
speaking  of  my  friend  Lieutenant  John  Quincy  Adams. 
In  those  days  there  were  but  two  prominent  hotels  in 
Florence,  the  Hotel  du  Nord  and  the  Hotel  de  York.  I 
do  not  remember  at  which  of  these  we  stopped,  for, 
somehow,  my  ideas  of  that  trip  at  this  distant  day  are 
very  much  mixed  up.  It  seems  to  me  that  our  short 
sojourn  there  rests  in  my  mind  now  a  sort  of  medley  of 
the  Yenus  de'  Medici,  the  Arno,  the  Uffizi  and  Pitti 
palaces,  flower-girls,  the  cafe  where  we  took  our  coffee 
and  eggs  in  the  morning,  and  the  Cascine.  The  time 
of  our  stay  was  very  short,  and  everything  we  did  and 
saw  was  so  hurried  that  the  resultant  of  all  must  neces 
sarily  be  very  confusing.  But  I  could  never  forget,  even 
if  I  had  not  seen  them  since,  Eafael's  Madonna  della 
Segglola,  Titian's  Flora,  and  the  Yenus  de'  Medici — 
three  of  the  most  beautiful  works  of  art,  each  in  its 
way,  that  have  ever  been  produced  by  the  hand  of  man. 

The  winter  of  1850-51  we  passed  in  Naples.  In  those 
days  ships  were  obliged  to  anchor  in  the  open 

116 


AT    NAPLES    IN    1850 

where  there  was  little  or  no  protection  against  the 
strong  winds  and  heavy  seas  which  drove  in  from  the 
southeast.  Now,  there  is  a  well -placed  mole  behind 
which  they  lie,  and  are  as  safe  as  if  they  were  moored 
in  a  basin.  At  the  period  when  we  were  there,  many  a 
chain  was  parted  and  many  an  anchor  lost ;  there  were 
times  when  the  ship  was  in  considerable  jeopardy.  By 
great  good-luck  we  generally  managed  to  get  our  an 
chors,  but  there  was  one  gale  during  which  two  bower 
anchors  were  on  the  bottom  without  chains  attached  to 
them,  and  we  were  relying  upon  the  two  sheets,  both 
of  which  were  down ;  one  of  them  with  a  hemp-cable 
bent  to  it.  Often  we  could  not  communicate  with  the 
shore,  so  heavy  was  the  sea  thrown  in  the  Bay  by  the 
southeast  gale.  At  this  time  one  of  the  Bourbon  Fer 
dinands  occupied  the  throne  of  Naples,  or  the  Two 
Sicilies,  as  the  kingdom  was  then  called.  The  King  was 
known  as  "Bomba"  all  over  Europe.  Pie  was  a  fat, 
heavy,  coarse  man,  whose  throne  was  then  tottering  un 
der  him,  destined  soon  to  fall  to  pieces.  His  Govern 
ment  was  an  absolute  despotism.  The  prisons  were  full 
of  political  prisoners,  and  people  were  dragged  from 
their  homes  and  from  the  cafes  upon  the  information 
of  police  spies,  and  incarcerated  in  the  most  loathsome 
dungeons.  It  was  said,  in  those  days  —  and  I  believe 
with  truth — that  the  most  refined  men  would  be  chained 
to  common  felons  in  these  horrible  holes.  Mr.  Glad 
stone  appeared  in  Naples  about  this  time,  and  pub 
lished  to  the  world  these  horrible  atrocities,  so  that 
when  Naples  fell,  as  she  deserved  to,  there  was  no  voice 
throughout  the  universe  raised  in  her  defence. 

There  were  three  brothers  of  the  King  who  flourish 
ed  in  Naples  in  these  days,  and  who  were  very  much 
in  evidence  at  the  grand  balls,  at  the  theatres,  or  driv- 

117 


MEMORIES    OF    A    RE AR- ADMIRAL 

ing  an  English  drag  on  the  Eiviera  di  Chiaja.  I  would 
say  that  they  were  all  the  superiors  of  their  brother, 
which  would  not  be  saying  much  for  them  either.  Prince 
Luigi  was  a  handsome  fellow ;  he  could  be  seen  almost 
any  afternoon  driving  on  the  Chiaja  and  Villa  Reale,  his 
drag  filled  on  the  outside  with  his  friends  and  boon 
companions.  I  think  he  aped  the  English,  and  liked  to 
do  things  as  they  did.  The  Count  of  Syracuse  was  a 
coarse,  heavy  man.  Count  Trapani,  the  youngest  broth 
er,  seemed  to  be  a  harmless  sort  of  fellow ;  he  was  a 
great  theatre-goer,  and  might  be  seen  almost  any  even 
ing  at  the  San  Carlo  or  the  other  Royal  theatre,  the 
Fonda.  He  was  the  only  one  of  the  brothers  married 
at  that  time,  and  his  wife,  a  delicate -looking  Princess, 
always  accompanied  him  on  these  occasions.  I  do  not 
think  it  ever  was  a  pleasant  sight  for  these  Bourbons 
to  see  the  American  flag  flaunted  before  their  eyes  dur 
ing  the  three  winters  that  we  passed  there.  Indeed, 
while  they  were  obliged  to  make  a  show  of  civility, 
they  placed  all  sorts  of  obstacles  in  the  way  of  our  go 
ing  and  remaining  there,  by  long  quarantines  and  other 
methods ;  but  we  went  and  remained  all  the  same. 

Naples  was  then  probably  more  attractive  to  foreign 
ers  than  it  has  been  at  any  time  since.  Americans  had 
their  Minister  to  protect  them,  and  were  quite  inde 
pendent  of  the  system  of  espionage  which  was  conduct 
ed  in  all  parts  of  the  city,  from  the  smallest  wine-shop 
to  the  luxurious  hotels  of  the  Chiaja.  We  were  always 
invited  to  the  grand  balls  that  were  given  by  the  Acad 
emy  of  Music  and  Dancing.  They  were  the  most  ele 
gant  entertainments  I  have  ever  seen;  there  was  no 
such  thing  as  a  supper,  as  we  understand  it,  but  at  a 
buffet  in  one  corner  of  the  room  coffee  and  tea  and  their 
accompaniments  were  served  by  powdered  lackeys.  The 

118 


GRAND    BALLS    AT   NAPLES 

elegance  of  these  balls  consisted  in  the  selectness  of  the 
guests,  in  the  superb  costumes,  and  in  the  orderly  man 
ner  in  which  they  were  conducted.  No  one  could  en 
ter  this  charmed  circle  unless  he  could  show  quarterings 
on  his  shield,  and  even  such  as  could  were  not  admitted 
if  they  presented  themselves  at  the  entrance  without 
slippers  with  silver  buckles.  The  exceptions  to  this 
rule  were  the  foreign  military  and  naval  men,  who  went 
in  uniform,  of  course,  and  were  not  supposed  to  wear 
slippers  in  that  dress.  ISTo  dances  were  permitted  ex 
cept  the  deux-temps  waltz  and  quadrilles.  All  others 
were  considered  vulgar  in  the  eyes  of  this  aristocratic 
circle.  There  was  always  an  American  contingent  to 
be  seen,  nor  were  the  Americans  the  least  elegant  of 
the  many  stylish  women  who  graced  these  assemblies. 
They  were  generally  arrayed  in  their  best  gowns,  for 
the  reputation  of  these  balls  was  known  throughout 
Italy,  and  as  our  countrywomen  are  renowned  for  their 
beauty  and  good  taste  all  over  Europe,  we  never  had 
reason  to  fear  that  we  should  not  be  well  represented. 
I  have  now  in  my  mind's  eye  a  lady  whom  I  knew  then, 
and  with  whom  I  often  danced  at  these  entertainments ; 
it  is  Mrs.  Hoffman,  wife  of  Mr.  Wickham  Hoffman,  a 
well-known  American,  who  has  served  as  Secretary  of 
Legation  in  the  most  important  capitals  of  Europe,  and 
was  afterwards  our  Minister  to  Denmark.  Mrs.  Hoff 
man  was  a  very  pretty  woman,  and  was  always  exceed 
ingly  well  dressed.  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
her  very  often  since.  She  now  resides  in  Washington, 
and  although,  like  myself,  she  is  not  as  young  as  she 
was  in  those  days,  she  is  still  an  exceedingly  attractive 
woman. 

The  San  Carlo  Theatre  was  at  that  time  in  the  very 
heyday  of  its  glory.    Next  to  the  Scala  at  Milan,  it  was 

119 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

the  largest  in  Europe,  and  its  audiences  were  esteemed 
the  most  critical  in  the  world ;  a  prima  donna,  having 
passed  the  ordeal  of  an  appearance  on  the  boards  of  the 
San  Carlo,  might  sing  without  hesitation  in  any  opera- 
house  in  the  world.  The  German  music  had  not  yet 
taken  the  high  position  which  it  now  maintains,  and  the 
Italian  composers  held  sway.  Yerdi's  operas,  with  those 
of  Bellini,  Donizetti,  Rossini,  Mercadante,  and  others  of 
less  note,  were  alone  produced  on  the  stage  of  that  day. 
It  is  wonderful  how  well  they  were  gotten  up,  consider 
ing  the  small  price  paid  for  a  place  at  the  opera,  which 
was,  in  our  currency,  thirty -two  cents  for  a  reserved 
seat.  The  ballet  at  the  San  Carlo  was  probably,  at  that 
time,  the  finest  in  the  world ;  Europe  was  ransacked  to 
find  the  best  dancers.  I  have  often  known  the  opera 
to  be  neglected,  but  after  the  curtain  dropped  and  the 
ballet  began,  the  people  would  flock  in  crowds  to  see 
the  dancing. 

Of  course,  I  visited  Herculaneum,  Pompeii,  and  Vesu 
vius.  I  read  Bulwer's  Last  Days  of  Pompeii  for  a  sec 
ond  time,  and  was  prepared  to  feel  an  especial  inter 
est  in  the  buried  City.  Indeed,  no  one  can  roam  among 
its  ruins  without  a  feeling  of  sadness,  as  he  reflects  upon 
the  awful  doom  which  so  suddenly  fell  upon  it  and  its 
inhabitants.  As  I  write,  I  am  reminded,  in  connection 
with  this  subject,  that  there  is  but  one  step  from  the 
sublime  to  the  ridiculous,  by  the  remark  of  an  American, 
who  on  visiting  the  ruins  said  that  it  was  a  great  shame 
that  the  King  of  Naples  permitted  Pompeii  to  remain  so 
long  in  want  of  repairs.  I  remember  very  little  about 
Herculaneum.  Indeed,  there  is  but  little  to  see.  Its  de 
struction  was  caused  by  molten  lava,  while  that  of  Pompeii 
was  the  result  of  a  shower  of  ashes,  which  lasted  long 
enough  effectually  to  do  its  work.  My  visit  to  Vesuvius 

120 


AN    ERUPTION    OF    VESUVIUS 

was  but  a  counterpart  of  all  excursions  to  that  inter 
esting  point.  I  was  young  and  vigorous  then,  and  I 
thought  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  ascend  the  Cone. 
I  saw  that  the  guides  hung  about  me,  knowing,  with 
their  large  experience,  what  was  sure  to  happen,  and  in 
my  case  did  happen  very  soon.  I  struggled  for  ten  min 
utes,  sliding  back  one  step  for  every  two  that  I  took  for 
ward,  until,  weary  and  exhausted,  I  took  not  only  one 
guide,  but  two,  one  to  boost  me  from  behind,  and  the 
other  to  pull  me  in  front.  Let  no  one  ever  attempt  this 
feat  thinldng  he  is  going  to  succeed,  for  ninety-nine  out 
of  a  hundred  are  sure  to  fail.  The  descent  is  quite  an 
other  affair.  One  has  but  to  plant  his  feet  in  the  ashes 
and  start  down,  when  he  goes  to  the  foot  of  the  Cone  by 
his  own  gravity. 

While  the  Independence  was  at  Naples  a  very  active 
eruption  of  Vesuvius  took  place.  All  Naples  went  to  see 
it.  Amongst  others  was  one  of  my  messmates,  Passed 
Midshipman  Charley  Bayard,  a  cousin  of  our  late  Am 
bassador  in  London.  He  stood  looking  on  as  the  scoria 
was  darting  up  into  the  heavens  and  flying  off  to  lee 
ward,  apparently  in  no  more  danger  than  thousands  of 
others,  when  a  piece  of  red-hot  lava,  deviating  from  the 
course  that  the  other  pieces  were  taking,  struck  him  on 
the  shoulder,  setting  his  clothes  on  fire,  and  inflicting  a 
wound  which  lacerated  his  flesh  in  such  a  terrible  man 
ner  that  it  became  necessary  to  amputate  his  arm  at  the 
shoulder.  The  shock  of  the  blow,  together  with  the  am 
putation,  was  too  much  for  him:  lockjaw  set  in,  and 
he  died  in  a  few  days.  He  was  a  charming  fellow,  and 
one  of  my  most  intimate  friends.  The  affair  produced 
the  most  profound  feeling  of  sympathy  throughout  the 
whole  of  Naples,  for  it  was  known  to  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  in  the  city.  Bayard  had  a  cousin  on  board 

121 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

the  Independence  who  was  a  messmate  of  mine ;  he  was 
then  Carroll  Tucker,  but  later  he  changed  his  name  to 
Tucker  Carroll.  Poor  Bayard's  death  was  an  especially 
heavy  blow  to  him.  Tucker  was  the  Commodore's  clerk, 
and  Bayard  was  his  aid.  They  two  lived  on  shore,  and 
were  constantly  together.  Carroll,  like  his  cousin  Bay 
ard,  was  a  lovely  fellow,  for  whom  I  formed  a  very 
strong  attachment. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Baths  of  Lucca— Pedestrian  Efforts— The  Store-keeper  at  Spezzia— 
Return  to  Naples — A  Promotion — Louis  Kossuth — Austrian  Rule 
— Venice,  and  Porpora's  Theatre — End  of  the  Cruise. 

THE  winter  of  1850-51  passed  away,  and  the  Indepen 
dence  started  off  on  her  summer's  cruise.  I  did  not  go  in 
her,  but  joined  the  Commodore,  of  whose  staff  I  was 
then  a  member,  at  the  Bagni  di  Lucca.  The  military 
family  consisted  of  Lieutenant  Percival  Drayton,  Flag 
Lieutenant,  Francis  de  Haas  Janvier,  the  Commodore's 
Secretary,  and  myself.  The  Commodore  was  accompa 
nied  by  his  wife  and  two  children.  The  old  gentleman 
was  trying  the  waters  for  his  gout,  but  it  was  a  hopeless 
case.  I  fancy  he  was  never  any  better.  The  Baths  of 
Lucca  was  a  much  more  fashionable  resort  in  those 
days  than  it  is  at  present.  The  place  belonged  to  the 
Dukedom  of  Tuscany,  and  the  Grand  Duchess  made  it 
notable  by  her  presence  there  every  summer.  She  al 
ways  gave  a  ball  during  the  season ;  we,  of  course,  at 
tended  the  one  given  while  we  were  there.  I  remember 
it  well,  because  I  was  introduced  to  an  English  girl,  a 
Miss  Franklin,  who  took  me  for  a  countryman  of  hers. 
She  at  once  asked  me  if  I  was  not  attached  to  the 
Thunderer,  then  lying  at  Leghorn.  I  replied  that  I  was 
an  American,  when  she  said,  "  Why,  you  do  not  talk 
like  an  American,"  which  was  no  compliment,  for  I  think 
we  take  fewer  liberties  with  the  English  language  than 
the  English  do  themselves. 

123 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Dray  ton  and  I  took  our  breakfast  at  a  cafe,  and  dined, 
part  of  the  time,  at  Pagnini's  Hotel,  and  part  of  the  time 
at  a  restaurant.  I  remember  that  our  breakfast  cost 
just  eleven  sous,  which  gave  us  a  couple  of  eggs  each 
and  all  the  coffee  and  bread  and  butter  that  we  wanted. 
The  dinners  at  Pagnini's  seemed  to  me  much  more 
stylish  in  those  days  than  they  did  when  I  went  there, 
as  a  Eear-Admiral,  many  years  afterwards  and  lived  at 
the  same  Hotel.  I  had  the  curiosity,  during  my  last 
visit,  to  look  at  the  hotel  register,  where  I  found  the 
names  of  many  of  my  shipmates  who  had  visited  the 
Bagni  nearly  forty  years  before.  Drayton  and  I  were 
both  good  walkers.  "We  scoured  the  country  around, 
and  climbed  many  a  mountain-peak  in  our  pedestrian 
excursions.  The  tops  of  the  hills  were  generally  crowded 
with  little  villages,  which  resembled  wasps'  nests  when 
viewed  from  a  distance  more  than  anything  else  to 
which  I  can  compare  them.  Strange  to  say,  although 
these  places  were  separated  from  each  other  only  by  a 
few  miles,  the  inhabitants  of  one  would  speak  a  different 
language  from  that  of  their  neighbors,  having  the  Ital 
ian  language  as  a  base. 

The  Commodore  and  his  family  left  the  Baths  of 
Lucca  by  carriage ;  Drayton  and  I  went  on  foot.  We 
were  travelling  through  the  Apennines,  and,  as  the  coun 
try  was  hilly  and  rough,  we  were  enabled  to  keep  up 
with  the  carriage  most  of  the  time.  "We  all  arrived,  in 
good  condition,  in  Pietro  Santo,  Drayton  and  I  having 
made  about  twenty-five  miles  in  very  good  time.  We 
were,  of  course,  somewhat  foot-sore  upon  our  arrival. 
The  carriage  party  were  fatigued  from  their  long  drive, 
so  we  remained  at  Pietro  Santo  for  the  night  to  rest. 
The  next  day  we  went  to  Genoa  en  route  to  Spezzia, 
where  we  were  all  going,  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  Flag- 

124 


WALKING    FROM    GENOA    TO    SPEZZIA 

ship.  Drayton  and  I  were  so  proud  of  our  late  pedes 
trian  achievement  that  we  determined  that  we  would 
walk  from  Genoa  to  Spezzia,  a  distance  of  from  seventy- 
five  to  eighty  miles.  "We  accordingly  started  off,  in  fine 
condition,  as  we  thought,  for  the  trip,  and  it  turned  out 
that  Drayton  was,  but  that  I  was  not.  He  had  become 
hardened  to  that  kind  of  work  in  Switzerland,  where 
he  had  walked  a  good  deal,  and  I  was  a  comparative 
novice.  The  first  day  we  walked  twenty-eight  miles  in 
seven  hours  and  a  half,  little  short  of  four  miles  an  hour ; 
but  I  was  so  stiff  and  used  up  that  it  was  impossible  for 
me  to  proceed  on  foot  the  next  day\  I  consequently 
was  obliged  to  take  a  carriage  for  the  rest  of  the  way. 
Drayton,  however,  continued,  and  made  the  same  time 
the  following  day,  and  came  into  Spezzia  the  next.  We 
found  upon  our  arrival  that  the  Flag-ship  had  not  yet 
reached  there,  and  we  all  took  up  our  quarters  at  the 
Hotel  Croce  di  Malta.  It  was  dull  enough.  We  were  al 
most  the  only  occupants  of  the  house.  Day  after  day  we 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  ship,  but  she  did  not  come. 
The  winds  were  light,  so  we  were  obliged  to  wait  pa 
tiently.  I  was  anxious  to  get  afloat  again,  and  was  tired 
of  roaming,  away  from  my  companions  and  shipmates. 
One  day  I  was  made  very  happy  by  the  arrival  from 
Alexandria  of  one  of  my  classmates — McCauley.  His 
father  was  our  Consul-General  there,  where  his  son  had 
been  on  a  visit  to  him.  It  brightened  up  our  little  party 
to  have  some  new  blood  infused  into  it,  and  we  got  on 
very  well  afterwards,  until  the  arrival  of  the  ship.  Mc 
Cauley  and  I  were  very  intimate  during  the  rest  of  the 
cruise.  He  died  a  few  years  ago,  a  Rear- Admiral  on  the 
retired  list.  The  monotony  of  our  life  wTas  somewhat 
relieved  by  the  arrival  of  an  Opera  Company  at  Spezzia. 
I  was  very  much  surprised  to  find  that  an  unimportant, 

125 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

dull,  uninteresting  place  like  this  could  attract  so  good 
a  Company.  I  took  a  season-ticket,  for  which.  I  think  I 
paid  ten  francs,  and  found  that  I  was  much  more  than 
repaid  for  my  outlay.  The  opera  that  I  especially  re 
member  was  "  Lucrezia  Borgia,"  and  although  I  had  seen 
it  at  more  pretentious  theatres,  I  do  not  remember  that 
I  ever  enjoyed  it  more.  An  Opera  Company  travelling 
in  Italy,  where  even  the  peasants  may  be  musical  critics, 
cannot  afford  to  be  bad.  It  may  be  bad  compared  with 
companies  of  the  very  highest  class,  but  to  be  successful 
at  all  the  artists  must  be  good. 

If  these  pages  should  happen  to  meet  the  eye  of  any 
Naval  man  who  was  in  Spezzia  during  the  years  of 
1851-52,  he  cannot  fail  to  remember  Colonel  Long,  the 
Naval  Store-keeper  who  succeeded  Mr.  Spaulding.  As 
I  recall  him,  he  was  a  North  Carolina  politician,  pure 
and  simple.  I  doubt  if  he  had  ever  been  beyond  the 
precincts  of  his  Congressional  District  before  he  came 
abroad.  He  was  doubtless  given  the  position  as  a  re 
ward  for  political  services  to  the  party  in  power  in  his 
own  especial  locality.  While  he  was  a  most  kindly  man, 
high-toned  and  honorable,  and  of  the  strictest  integrity, 
he  was  hardly  calculated  to  fill  the  post  of  Naval  Store 
keeper  at  Spezzia.  The  kind  of  life  that  he  was  now 
called  upon  to  lead,  his  contact  with  a  people  whose 
habits  and  customs  were  so  entirely  different  from  those 
to  which  he  had  always  been  accustomed,  were  so  em 
barrassing  that  the  only  wonder  is  that  he  got  on  as 
well  as  he  did.  Fortunately  he  brought  out  a  clerk  who 
was  a  linguist,  and  who  therefore  was  of  great  assist 
ance  to  him  in  his  intercourse  with  the  Italians.  The 
old  Colonel  kept  open  house,  and  was  the  soul  of  hospi 
tality.  His  establishment  was  a  sort  of  headquarters 
for  the  officers  of  the  Squadron.  A  bottle  and  glasses 

126 


COLONEL    LONG'S    STORMY   VOYAGE 

always  stood  on  the  table  in  the  centre  of  his  reception- 
room.  The  Colonel  was  once  ordered  to  send  some 
stores  to  the  Squadron  at  Naples.  In  those  clays  the 
only  way  of  getting  material  from  a  point  where  steam 
ers  did  not  touch  was  by  means  of  small  sailing-vessels, 
which  I  think  were  called  Bobos.  So  the  Colonel  char 
tered  a  Bobo,  and  filled  her  with  provisions.  He  was 
very  conscientious,  and  felt  it  his  duty  to  see,  himself, 
that  they  were  delivered  in  good  condition  to  the  Fleet. 
There  was  no  other  way  of  doing  this,  according  to  the 
Colonel's  mode  of  thinking,  than  by  going  in  the  Bobo 
himself  to  see  that  no  harm  came  to  the  stores  for 
which  he  held  himself  responsible.  So  he  went  on  board 
with  his  clerk,  and  they  sailed  away  for  Naples  in  their 
tiny  craft.  All  went  well  at  first,  but  a  gale  of  wind 
came  on,  and  the  little  vessel  was  belabored  so  sorely 
that  they  almost  gave  themselves  up  for  lost.  The 
skipper  fell  on  his  knees  and  implored  protection  from 
on  high  for  himself ;  he  had  but  little  concern  for  the 
cargo,  while  that  was,  of  course,  the  Colonel's  chief  in 
terest.  The  latter  then  made  him  a  speech  in  his  best 
North  Carolina  style,  and  implored  him  to  go  to  work 
and  try  and  save  the  vessel  and  cargo.  The  skipper  was 
at  last  moved  to  make  a  final  effort,  so,  with  the  assist 
ance  of  the  Colonel  and  his  clerk,  he  managed  to  get  the 
Bobo  once  more  under  control.  The  gale  soon  after 
wards  abated,  and  they  arrived  safely  in  Naples  with  the 
Colonel's  precious  cargo.  The  kindly  old  gentleman 
never  passed  through  such  dangers  before,  and  he  was 
henceforth  a  hero  in  the  eyes  of  his  old  friends  in  the 
Fleet,  who  were  glad  to  welcome  him  after  the  perils  he 
had  encountered  on  his  stormy  voyage.  I  lost  sight  of 
him  when  I  returned  to  America,  but  I  shall  never  for 
get  his  kindly,  genial  nature.  Everybody  liked  him,  in 

127 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

spite  of  his  odd  ways,  his  stump-speech  style  of  conver 
sation,  and  his  manner  of  dress,  which  was  always  pecul 
iar  ;  he  was  dressed  for  dinner  from  morning  to  night ; 
in  other  words,  the  Colonel  lived  in  a  swallow-tail  coat, 
as  many  other  Americans  did  at  that  time. 

We  were  all  glad  to  be  once  more  in  Naples.  The 
winter  of  1851-52  was  to  be  our  last.  The  Commo 
dore  had  promoted  me  to  fill  a  vacancy  as  Master,  or, 
as  it  is  now  called,  Navigator.  I  had,  therefore,  but 
little  to  do  while  the  ship  was  in  winter  quarters.  I 
passed  a  good  deal  of  my  time  on  shore,  going  to  the 
Opera  in  the  evenings,  and  occasionally  to  a  ball  or 
evening  party.  I  did  not  go  much  into  society.  In 
deed,  with  the  exception  of  the  large  affairs,  the  visiting 
part  of  what  is  called  society  was  confined  principally 
to  the  boxes  in  the  opera-house.  It  was  there  that  we 
generally  visited  our  friends,  and  between  the  acts  the 
boxes  presented  a  gay  scene  of  well-dressed  men  and 
women.  As  I  stated  before,  I  was  very  intimate  with 
McCauley.  There  was  another  McCawley,  the  junior 
Marine  officer  of  the  Independence,  with  whom  I  was  on 
the  same  intimate  terms;  though  of  the  same  name 
they  spelled  it  differently.  We  had  a  large  room  to 
gether,  where  we  could  all  sleep,  so  that  if  the  weather 
were  bad,  or  we  were  up  late  at  a  ball,  we  always  had 
a  place  to  which  we  could  retire.  Our  room  was  at  a 
lodging-house  in  the  Yia  Carmenelli,  kept  by  an  old 
woman  who  was  a  great  talker.  Dray  ton  used  to  say, 
notwithstanding,  that  she  spoke  no  language  under 
the  sun.  She  took  good  care  of  us,  however,  gave  us 
clean  beds,  and  our  coffee  and  eggs  when  we  cared  to 
breakfast  in  our  room.  Of  my  room-mates,  the  Navy 
McCauley  died  as  a  retired  Eear  -  Admiral,  and  the 
Marine  officer  McCawley  became  the  Colonel  Com- 

128 


FESTIVITIES    AT    NAPLES 

mandant  of  the  Marine  Corps.    They  were  both  fine 
fellows,  and  we  passed  many  happy  days  together. 

Besides  the  balls  of  the  Society  of  Music  and  Dan 
cing,  which  I  have  before  described,  very  handsome 
entertainments  were  given  by  the  Bankers  Muricoffre. 
At  these  balls  could  be  seen  all  the  distinguished 
strangers  in  Naples,  as  well  as  the  resident  society.  I 
remember  seeing  there  the  great  singer  Lablache,  well 
known  in  musical  circles  in  those  days.  He  left  a 
stronger  impression  upon  my  mind  than  any  other  per 
son,  on  account  of  his  great  size.  Another  entertain 
ment  which  was  largely  attended  was  the  fortnightly  re 
ception  of  the  French  Minister,  Odillon  Barrot,  or  his 
brother,  I  am  not  quite  sure  which.  I  remember  dis 
tinctly  the  easy  manner  in  which  he  received  his  guests, 
and  the  graceful  ways  of  his  wife,  who  stood  by  his 
side.  These  receptions,  next  to  the  grand  balls  to  which 
I  have  before  referred,  were  the  most  recherches  assem 
blages  I  have  ever  attended  in  Naples.  Barrot  was  the 
representative  of  the  Prince  President,  Louis  Napoleon, 
and  a  man  of  charming  personality.  He  bore,  as  every 
one  familiar  with  the  history  of  those  times  knows,  a 
name  which  stood  very  high  in  France  during  the  as 
cendency  of  Louis  Bonaparte,  at  all  events  during  the 
part  of  it  about  which  I  am  now  writing.  His  recep 
tions  were  always  well  attended  by  the  best  people  in 
Naples.  Louis  Kossuth  was  at  this  time  one  of  the 
most  prominent  characters  in  Europe.  The  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  had  placed  at  his  disposal  a 
ship  of  war,  to  convey  him  and  his  followers  to  the 
United  States.  It  will  be  remembered  that  they  had 
asylum  in  Turkey,  and  the  Government  of  that  country 
agreed  to  turn  them  over  to  the  United  States.  The 
Steam  Frigate  Mississippi  was  sent  to  Constantinople 
i  129 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

for  them,  and  appeared  at  Spezzia  while  the  Flag-ship 
was  there.  Commodore  Morgan  had  an  interview  with 
Kossuth,  at  which  I  was  present,  and  which  I  found 
extremely  interesting.  Kossuth  had  learned  English 
from  a  dictionary,  and  from  a  copy  of  Shakespeare 
which  he  happened  to  have  in  his  possession,  and  took 
advantage  of  his  long  sojourn  in  Turkey  to  make  him 
self  familiar  with  the  language.  I  must  confess  I  was 
very  much  surprised  to  find  with  how  much  fluency  and 
eloquence  he  spoke  it,  and  how  beautiful  his  language 
was.  He  addressed  Mrs.  Morgan  as  "  Your  ladyship," 
thinking,  I  presume,  that  as  she  was  the  wife  of  a  Flag 
Officer,  she  ought  to  have  some  title.  I  was  very  much 
impressed  with  the  grandeur  of  this  wonderful  man. 
Had  he  been  successful,  he  would  have  stood  very  high 
amongst  the  world's  patriots,  as  indeed,  he  does  now. 
The  Austrians  were  successful  for  the  time,  but  Hungary 
has  emerged  from  her  downtrodden  condition,  and  has 
taken  her  place  as  the  equal  of  her  ancient  oppressor. 

At  the  time  to  which  I  refer  Austria  exercised  her 
power  in  Italy  in  an  offensive  and  disagreeable  manner. 
As  an  example  I  will  mention  an  occurrence  which  took 
place  when  the  Independence  was  in  Trieste.  I  was  one 
of  a  small  party  of  officers  who  visited  Venice.  Our 
passports  were  vised  in  due  form  by  the  authorities,  so 
that  we  should  have  been  put  to  no  inconvenience  what 
ever.  When  we  were  about  to  leave,  the  passports  of 
the  party  were  sent  for,  as  customary,  by  the  people  of 
the  hotel  at  which  we  were  staying.  For  some  un 
known  reason  mine  did  not  arrive  with  the  others,  and 
I  was  informed  that  I  must  appear  in  person  at  the 
police  station  and  receive  my  passport  there.  I  do  not 
remember  that  there  was  any  explanation,  or  that  any 
apology  was  made  for  putting  me  to  this  inconvenience. 

130 


IN    VENICE 

I  felt  very  much  inclined  to  kick  somebody,  but  I  pre 
sume  if  I  had  indulged  in  this  luxury  I  should  have 
found  myself  in  additional  trouble,  so  I  contented  my 
self  with  grumbling  and  looking  savage,  and  returned 
to  the  hotel,  where  I  rejoined  my  party.  This  visit  to 
Venice,  aside  from  the  little  episode  to  which  I  have 
referred,  was  exceedingly  pleasant.  The  city  was  a 
place  of  much  less  importance  then  than  it  is  now,  for  it 
has  become  one  of  Italy's  great  Naval  Arsenals,  which 
makes  it  a  port  of  great  consequence.  In  1850  it  was 
a  place  of  resort  for  those  who  desired  to  see  the  unique 
city  of  the  world — a  city  whose  streets  are  water-ways, 
and  whose  ve'  icles  are  swift-gliding  gondolas.  It  was 
a  novel  and  interesting  experience  to  be  conveyed  for 
the  first  time  from  point  to  point  in  comfortable  float 
ing  carriages,  but  it  was  a  strange  feeling  to  be  travers 
ing  a  great  city  and  hearing  no  noise  but  the  cry  of  the 
gondolier  as  he  approached  a  street  corner.  This  cry  is 
given  in  order  to  advise  those  who  were  passing  on  the 
cross-street  to  be  on  the  lookout.  On  one  occasion  our 
gondoliers  were  not  on  the  lookout,  and  we  were  run 
into  right  amidships,  without  any  especial  damage  be 
ing  done  to  the  gondola.  Our  men,  however,  were  both 
precipitated  into  the  water,  but  they  immediately  swam 
back  and  resumed  their  places  on  the  bow  and  stern  of 
their  strange,  peculiar  craft,  and  went  on  rowing  as  be 
fore.  A  short  time  before  this  visit  to  Venice  I  had 
been  reading  George  Sand's  Consuelo,  and  had  become 
much  interested  in  the  theatre  of  San  Samuele,  which 
in  its  day  was  the  famous  theatre  of  Venice,  where  the 
great  Maestro  Porpora  was  accustomed  to  bring  out 
such  pupils  as  he  was  educating  for  the  stage.  The 
book  was  so  cleverly  written  that  it  invested  this  theatre 
with  a  peculiar  interest,  and  I  could  not  feel  satisfied  to 

131 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

leave  Venice  without  seeing  it,  if  it  was  still  in  exist 
ence.  So  Drayton  and  I  searched  until  we  found  it. 
The  theatre  had  been  out  of  use  for  many  years,  and 
now  looked  like  an  old  storehouse  that  might  be  the 
receptacle  of  its  departed  glory ;  for,  as  I  looked  into 
it,  I  could  see  nothing  but  a  wreck  of  scenery,  broken 
benches,  and  the  debris  of  what  once  had  been  the 
Grand  Opera-house  of  Yenice.  Judging  from  the  sur 
prise  of  the  old  woman  who  seemed  to  have  charge  of 
this  pile  of  rubbish,  I  doubt  if  any  one  had  ever  visited 
the  place  before  with  the  same  object  that  we  had. 

The  cruise  of  the  Independence  was  now  drawing  to  a 
close,  and  we  began  to  make  preparations  for  the  home 
ward-bound  passage.  The  Commodore  came  on  board 
with  Mrs.  Morgan  and  the  children,  and  we  squared 
away  for  Gibraltar.  When  we  reached  the  Spanish 
coast  the  wind  blew  strong  from  the  westward,  so  that 
we  were  obliged  to  beat  up  against  it.  We  finally  reached 
the  Eock;  after  resting  awhile,  so  to  speak,  under  its 
lee,  we  succeeded  in  beating  far  enough  to  windward  to 
fetch  the  anchorage  finally,  but  it  was  hard  work,  and 
about  all  the  old  Independence  could  do.  Apropos  of 
getting  into  Gibraltar  from  the  eastward,  on  another 
occasion  the  Independence  was  being  towed  by  the  Mis 
sissippi^  when  the  latter  signalled  that  she  was  getting 
short  of  coal,  and  if  the  wind  continued  strong  was 
doubtful  of  her  ability  to  tow  us  through.  My  friend 
Beaumont  was  talking  to  Drayton,  who  was  making 
signals  on  our  part,  and  finally  asked  him  what  they 
were  talking  about;  whereupon  Dra}^ton  replied  in  a 
playful  way,  "  That  is  none  of  your  business."  Beau 
mont  said,  "  I  know  what  it  is  the  Mississippi  says : 

'"If  this  wind  does  not  abate, 

I  cannot  tow  you  through  this  strait.' " 
132 


SECOND    CRUISE    ENDED 

"  And  you  say : 

"'As  long  as  you  have  wood  and  coal, 
Tow  away  with  heart  and  soul.' " 

It  so  happened  that  what  Beaumont  put  so  happily  in 
verse  was  practically  what  they  were  saying. 

We  sailed  for  home  in  June,  1852,  and  had  a  pleasant 
run  down  the  trade- winds,  towards  the  West  Indies, 
then  kept  away  for  New  York,  where  we  arrived  on 
the  Fourth  of  July,  having  made  a  full  three  years' 
cruise.  I  had  but  little  to  do  on  the  passage  over,  for, 
being  the  Second  Master,  I  was  not  responsible  for  the 
navigation.  I  plotted  the  position  on  the  Commodore's 
chart  each  day,  which  gave  me  an  opportunity  of  fre 
quently  seeing  Mrs.  Morgan,  who,  as  I  have  before 
stated,  was  a  charming  woman,  and  with  whom  I  had 
almost  daily  chats.  In  a  few  days  after  we  anchored 
at  the  Navy- Yard,  the  ship  was  paid  off,  the  officers 
were  granted  three  months'  leave  of  absence,  and  so  my 
second  cruise  was  at  an  end. 


CHAPTER  XII 

Deep-Sea  Soundings — An  Abortive  Cruise — The  Dolphin  in  a  Hurri 
cane — In  Peril  from  Water  and  Fire — At  Rest  in  Lisbon — Coast 
Survey  —  In  Annapolis  as  Prof essor  —  Captain  Goldsborough — A 
Practice  Cruise— White  Sulphur  Springs. 

I  WAS  not  permitted  to  enjoy  my  leave  of  absence 
very  long.  Before  three  months  had  expired  I  was  or 
dered  to  the  Steam  Frigate  Saranac,  very  much  against 
my  inclinations.  She  was  to  go  to  the  Station  from 
which  I  had  so  recently  returned.  These  orders,  under 
different  circumstances,  would  have  been  very  agree 
able,  but  I  was  not  anxious  to  return  to  the  Mediterra 
nean  so  soon.  I  did  not  sail  in  her,  however,  being  de 
tached  and  ordered  to  the  Brig  Dolphin.  About  this 
time  the  Dolphin  was  being  fitted  for  a  cruise  in  the 
jS'orth  Atlantic,  to  take  deep-sea  soundings  between  the 
coast  of  America  and  the  coast  of  Ireland,  with  a  view 
of  ascertaining  if  a  plateau  existed  which  would  render 
feasible  the  laying  of  a  cable  between  the  two  shores. 
She  had  been  already  once  employed  in  this  arduous 
service.  The  appliances  for  this  kind  of  work  were  very 
crude  at  that  time,  and  I  do  not  think  the  methods  then 
employed  could  have  been  very  satisfactory.  Since 
those  days  deep-sea-sounding  instruments  have  reached 
a  high  state  of  perfection.  In  addition  to  this  work,  we 
were  directed  to  examine  the  ocean  for  dangers  that 
were  marked  doubtful,  with  a  view  of  erasing  them  from 
the  charts,  and  also  for  determining  surface  and  deep- 

134 


BEGIN    CRUISE    IN    BRIG    DOLPHIN 

sea  currents.  It  always  seemed  to  me  most  absurd  to 
start  a  small  vessel,  which  in  bad  weather  had  all  she 
could  do  to  take  care  of  herself,  across  that  stormy  area 
of  the  North  Atlantic  Ocean  extending  from  New  York 
to  Ireland,  just  at  the  beginning  of  the  season  when 
gales  were  to  be  looked  for,  which  it  was  but  reasonable 
to  suppose  would,  in  all  probability,  continue  to  blow, 
with  short  intervals  of  moderate  weather,  more  or  less 
violently  for  the  following  six  months.  I  understand 
that  the  reason  given  for  this  by  the  Observatory  was 
that  the  Dolphin,  having  already  been  loaned  to  that  in 
stitution  for  this  especial  work,  would  have  been  placed 
by  the  Navy  Department  on  regular  cruising  duty  if 
this  examination  had  been  deferred  until  spring.  The 
result  of  the  cruise  goes  to  show  how  unwise  it  was,  and 
how  little  forethought  was  exercised. 

We  sailed  in  October,  bound  on  a  cruise  northeast, 
and,  as  might  have  been  expected,  were  dashed  into  gale 
after  gale ;  and,  although  we  made  some  attempts  at  deep- 
sea  sounding,  I  doubt  if  any  of  the  work  done  during  the 
cruise  was  of  the  least  service.  "We  continued  on,  how 
ever,  when,  upon  reaching  a  point  about  the  middle  of 
the  North  Atlantic  Ocean,  we  encountered  a  hurricane 
which  gave  us  our  coup  de  grace,  and  caused  us  to  square 
away  for  Lisbon,  about  the  nearest  point  where  we 
could  find  a  harbor  sufficiently  secure  to  repair  damages. 
Before  proceeding  further  with  my  narrative,  I  will 
mention  the  names  of  the  officers  of  the  Brig  Dolphin. 
Her  Commander  was  Lieutenant  Berryman ;  I  was,  al 
though  a  Passed  Midshipman,  the  Executive  Officer  and 
Navigator ;  the  watch-officers  were  Truxtun,  Morris, 
and  Kennon,  Passed  Midshipmen,  and  Garland,  who  was 
a  Midshipman  ;  the  Surgeon  was  Dr.  A.  A.  Henderson. 

On  the  night  when  the  hurricane  struck  us  I  was  ly- 

135 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

ing  in  my  bunk,  and  although  I  knew  that  it  was  blowing 
fresh,  I  had  no  idea  of  the  violence  of  the  wind  until 
Truxtun,  who  had  kept  the  first  watch,  came  down  to 
turn  in.  As  he  was  marking  the  strength  of  the  wind,  I 
said,  "  What  do  you  mark  the  wind  ?"  "  Twelve,"  he 
replied.  "  "Why,"  I  said,  "  twelve  means  a  hurricane." 
He  then  said,  "  If  this  is  not  a  hurricane,  there  never  was 
one."  But  the  wind  continued  to  increase,  and  at  day 
light  it  was  blowing  harder  than  I  had  ever  known  it  to 
blow  in  my  experience.  We  were  lying  to,  under  the 
shortest  possible  canvas  we  could  show — I  have  forgot 
ten  whether  it  was  the  fore  trysail  or  main  stay-sail. 
At  all  events,  it  was  all  she  could  stand,  and  with  this 
she  was  heeling  over  nearly  on  her  beam  ends.  The 
Captain  suggested  getting  her  before  the  wind.  I  ad 
vised  him  against  it,  and  he  did  not  insist  upon  it.  My 
opinion  then  was  that  she  would  swamp,  and  I  think  so 
now.  I  told  him  I  did  not  think  we  could  do  any  better 
than  we  were  doing  under  the  circumstances.  But  the 
Brig  continued,  if  any  thing,  to  heel  more  than  ever, 
and  every  now  and  then  we  would  ship  an  ugly  sea. 
The  Captain  and  I  then  held  a  consultation,  and  we  de 
termined  to  throw  the  lee  gun  overboard.  Our  battery, 
which  was  on  a  peace  footing,  consisted  of  only  two 
32-pounders.  I  accordingly  went  to  work  with  a  gang 
of  men,  and  had  nearly  all  the  preparations  made  when 
the  Brig  made  a  deep  lurch,  and  at  the  same  time 
shipped  a  tremendous  sea,  which  swept  me  and  my  men 
down  into  the  lee  scuppers.  I  thought  I  was  gone,  and 
while  I  lay  in  the  water  for  a  very  brief  instant  I  felt  a 
sort  of  indifference  as  to  whether  I  was  ever  going  to 
get  up  again  or  not.  However,  the  Brig  righted  almost 
instantly,  and  to  my  surprise  I  found  myself  on  my  feet 
again.  I  then  jumped  up  on  to  the  cabin  trunk,  put  my 

136 


THE    DOLPHIN   TAKES    FIRE 

arm  around  the  main-boom,  and  with  the  assistance  of 
my  gang  of  men,  who  by  this  time  were  also  on  their 
feet  and  at  their  stations,  the  gun  was  launched  into  the 
ocean.  We  were  obliged  to  throw  overboard  also  a 
great  many  deep-sea-sounding  reels,  made  very  heavy 
by  the  twine  with  which  they  were  bound ;  and  as  they 
were  stowed  in  the  launch,  amidships,  and  high  above 
the  rail,  they  made  a  good  deal  of  top-hamper.  The 
Brig  now  became  a  great  deal  easier,  and  I  felt  that  the 
worst  was  over.  One  of  the  heavy  seas  which  struck  us 
stove  in  the  Brig's  side  to  such  an  extent  that  eleven  of 
the  stanchions  which  supported  the  bulwarks  were  car 
ried  away,  and  one  of  the  seams  near  the  water's  edge 
opened  to  a  considerable  extent. 

After  we  had  escaped  from  what  at  one  time  seemed 
almost  certain  destruction,  when  the  Brig  was  in  immi 
nent  danger  of  foundering — and  if  she  had  done  so  no 
one  would  have  been  left  to  tell  the  tale — a  new  danger 
threatened  us,  which  seemed  even  more  alarming  than 
that  which  we  had  just  passed  through.  When  the  cy 
clone  was  at  its  height,  a  tank  of  linseed-oil  had  been 
wrenched  away  from  its  securings  and  the  contents 
thereof  discharged  into  the  hold.  There  was  so  much 
to  be  thought  of  during  the  storm  that  no  one  seemed  to 
think  of  what  the  consequences  of  this  drifting  oil  might 
be.  The  wind  and  the  sea  had  both  abated,  so  that  we 
took  advantage  of  it  to  strike  our  only  remaining  gun 
down  into  the  hold.  After  this  had  been  done  I  went 
below,  and  was  trying  to  get  some  much-needed  rest  in 
a  hammock,  when  I  heard  all  hands  called  to  quarters.  I 
immediately  rushed  on  deck,  and  was  met  by  the  officer 
of  the  watch,  who  informed  me  that  the  Brig  was  on 
fire.  I  went  forward  at  once,  thinking  that  the  linseed- 
oil  might  have  saturated  the  sails  in  the  sail-room,  there- 

137 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REA&-ADMIRAL 

by  producing  spontaneous  combustion.  I  had  the  sail- 
room  broken  out  and  the  sails  placed  on  deck,  and  found 
no  traces  whatever  of  fire.  The  smoke  continued  to 
ascend  from  the  fore-hold,  and  it  was  evident  that  the 
origin  of  the  fire  was  there.  We  hoisted  barrel  after 
barrel,  and  found  nothing  until  a  barrel  of  pitch  came 
up  all  blackened  and  charred,  showing  that  the  fire  had 
made  some  headway  where  this  pitch-barrel  came  from. 
The  next  hoist  brought  up  a  crate  of  oakum  which  had 
been  entirely  saturated  with  the  oil,  and  was  partly  con 
sumed  from  spontaneous  combustion.  Had  it  been  in 
close  contact  with  the  pitch  but  a  short  time  longer 
the  fire  would  have  been  communicated  to  the  pitch, 
when  I  think  we  could  not  possibly  have  escaped  de 
struction.  We  threw  the  burning  crate  overboard,  and 
then  made  an  examination  of  the  hold.  By  this  time 
the  heat  had  decreased  considerably,  yet  we  continued 
to  deluge  the  place  with  water,  and  persevered  in  doing 
so  until  it  became  evident  that  we  had  reached  the  seat 
of  the  trouble  when  we  found  the  crate  of  oakum.  It 
was  a  very  close  call,  for  the  staves  of  the  pitch-barrel 
were  nearly  burned  through,  and  discovery  before  this 
was  entirely  accomplished  was  all  that  saved  us.  The 
fire  was  very  demoralizing,  and  caused  a  good  deal  of 
consternation ;  and  as  I  was  working  my  way  back  aft 
along  the  weather  bulwarks — for  the  gale  had  not  yet 
entirely  subsided — I  heard  a  poor  devil  of  a  Marine,  who 
was  in  a  great  state  of  alarm,  say  to  his  surrounding 
comrades  that  the  gale  was  bad  enough,  but  the  fire  was 
much  worse  than  the  gale  ever  was.  There  was  now 
nothing  to  do  but  abandon  our  northern  cruise,  which 
the  commanding  officer  at  once  determined  to  do.  For 
tunately  the  winds  favored  us,  and  we  ran  along  nearly 
two  hundred  miles  a  day,  reaching  Lisbon,  which  was 

138 


GOOD    TIMES    IN    LISBON 

about  fifteen  hundred  miles  off,  in  about  eight  days.  "We 
went  to  work  at  once  to  repair  damages,  which  occu 
pied  a  period  of  about  six  weeks. 

In  the  meanwhile  we  enjoyed  a  season  of  rest,  which 
was  very  grateful  after  the  trying  times  we  had  since 
leaving  the  United  States.  The  winter  weather  was 
very  delightful  in  Lisbon  in  that  year,  and  we  enjoyed 
it  thoroughly.  Lisbon  is  not  a  very  gay  capital,  and 
there  was  but  little  to  do  but  go  to  the  Opera.  It  so 
happened  that  there  was  an  excellent  company  there  at 
that  time.  They  were  giving  Italian  operas,  and  I  used 
to  listen  to  "  La  Sonnambula  "  night  after  night  with  a 
great  deal  of  pleasure.  Our  Minister  to  Portugal  at  that 
time  was  Mr.  Shaddock,  a  New  England  man.  and  a  very 
creditable  representative  of  our  country.  He  had  stay 
ing  with  him  a  charming  niece  —  Miss  Kimball.  Her 
presence  made  the  Legation  a  very  attractive  house  to 
visit.  I  passed  more  time  there,  perhaps,  than  any  of 
my  companions,  and  we  became  great  friends.  I  found 
her  to  be  very  attractive,  and  she  helped  me  to  spend 
very  pleasantly  much  of  my  time  at  Lisbon,  which  oth 
erwise  would  have  been  dull  and  uninteresting.  She  be 
came  the  wife  of  General  Berdan,  a  well-known  officer 
of  the  Civil  War,  who  died  only  a  few  years  ago.  They 
had  two  charming  daughters.  One  became  the  Countess 
D'Aunay,  and  the  other  the  wife  of  Marion  Crawford. 
I  have  met  Mrs.  Berdan  frequently  since  those  far-off 
days,  and  we  are  yet  great  friends.  She  is  still  a  hand 
some,  attractive  woman. 

Our  repairs  were  now  finished,  and  we  bade  good-bye 
to  our  friends  and  the  Opera,  and  sailed  away  from  the 
Tagus.  We  touched  at  Teneriffe  and  communicated 
with  the  Consul,  saw  the  famous  Peak,  and  then  made 
the  best  of  our  way  for  Madeira.  There  was  no  especial 

139 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

hurry  for  our  getting  home  now.  The  cruise  had  been 
a  failure,  and  we  might  as  well  show  the  flag  here  and 
there,  and  trifle  away  a  little  time  before  approaching 
our  own  coast  while  the  stormy  season  was  still  upon 
us.  We  were  not  much  of  a  man-of-war,  to  be  sure,  as 
one  gun  of  the  two  with  which  we  started  was  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  other  in  the  hold. 
We  passed  a  few  days  agreeably  at  Madeira,  and  then 
ran  into  the  tropics,  and  made  a  sort  of  zigzag  course  to 
the  westward  between  the  parallels  of  twenty  and  thirty 
degrees  north  latitude,  doing  some  work  in  our  line,  but 
nothing,  I  fancy,  that  was  ever  of  any  use.  We  finally 
reached  Norfolk,  I  think,  some  time  in  March,  1853, 
after  the  most  uninteresting  and  uneventful  and  useless 
cruise  that  one  could  possibly  conceive  of.  I  went  to 
Washington,  visited  the  Navy  Department,  and  was  de 
tached  in  about  the  time  it  takes  to  tell  it. 

During  the  rest  of  the  year  of  1853,  and  until  Octo 
ber,  1854, 1  was  employed  on  the  Coast  Survey.  Lieu 
tenant  Maxwell  Woodhull  commanded  the  party  with 
which  I  served.  He  had  under  his  command  the  schoon 
ers  Gallatin  and  Madison.  Woodhull  commanded  the 
Gallatin^  and  Rutledge  the  Madison.  We  worked  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Wood's  Hole,  and  did  some  work 
on  the  coast  of  New  England,  and  also  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Sandy  Hook.  Rutledge,  our  Captain,  was  a 
typical  South  Carolinian  of  that  day,  a  high-toned,  hon 
orable  fellow,  of  a  sensitive  nature,  and  easily  offended. 
One  of  the  officers  of  the  Madison  said  at  the  table  one 
day,  when  the  servant  handed  him  the  rice,  that  he  had 
no  respect  for  any  man  that  ate  rice ;  he  said  it  thought 
lessly,  but  it  gave  mortal  offence,  as  Eutledge,  in  com 
mon  with  all  South  Carolinians,  thought  that  rice,  of  all 
vegetable  foods,  was  the  best.  He  never  spoke  to  this 

140 


ANOTHER    COAST-SURVEY    EXPEDITION 

officer  again,  nor  would  he  take  enough  notice  of  him  to 
call  upon  him  for  any  duty  ;  he  utterly  ignored  his  pres 
ence  on  board  ship.  During  the  foggy  or  blowy  weath 
er  we  passed  most  of  our  time  at  Monomoy  Point,  where 
we  were  well  sheltered;  but  it  was  the  dullest  of  all 
holes.  Our  Surgeon,  who  had  nothing  in  the  world  to 
do,  was  constantly  singing  a  sort  of  refrain : 

"How  it  gives  my  bosom  joy, 
To  be  once  more  in  Monomoy." 

We  ceased  from  our  labors  in  the  autumn  of  1853,  and 
the  party  removed  to  Washington  for  the  winter  work. 
There  was  not  really  much  for  any  one  to  do,  except 
the  draughtsmen,  so  the  members  of  the  party  scattered 
and  spent  their  time  as  they  pleased. 

In  the  spring  of  1854  I  joined  another  Coast-Survey 
party,  which  was  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 
Stelwaggen.  We  had  a  steamer  called  the  Bibb.  Fox- 
hall  Parker  was  our  executive  officer;  in  the  party 
were  Quackenbush,  Stout,  and  my  old  friend  Truxtun, 
and  some  others.  We  had  a  very  agreeable  mess.  Our 
work  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nantucket  Shoals.  We 
made  our  headquarters  at  Edgartown,  on  Martha's  Vine 
yard,  where  we  were  frequently  detained  by  fogs  and 
weather  that  was  unfavorable  for  outside  work.  The 
work  was  not  very  interesting,  but  the  mess  was  pleas 
ant,  and  the  summer  glided  happily  away.  My  brother, 
General  Franklin,  was  the  Engineer  Light-house  Inspec 
tor  of  the  extreme  Eastern  district ;  indeed,  he  was  the 
only  Inspector.  The  establishment  was  in  its  infancy, 
and  the  system  of  having  Inspectors  of  both  services  in 
each  district  had  not  yet  begun.  After  the  summer 
work  on  the  survey  was  over  I  made  him  a  visit  at  Port 
land,  which  seemed  rather  a  remote  region  in  those  days 

141 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

to  one  who  had  lived  always  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  Line ;  but  I  found  my  sojourn  there 
very  agreeable.  There  was  a  charming  little  society  in 
Portland,  and  I  soon  came  to  know  the  people  very  well. 
It  was  while  on  this  visit  to  my  brother,  in  Octo 
ber,  1854,  that  I  received  orders  to  Annapolis,  to  report 
for  duty  to  the  Superintendent  of  the  Naval  Academy. 
I  was  at  once  placed  in  the  Executive  Department, 
which  was  then  a  sort  of  Department  of  discipline  and 
order.  The  Academy  had  not  yet  emerged  entirely 
from  the  condition  in  which  it  was  when  I  was  a  stu 
dent  there,  but  matters  were  very  much  improved.  The 
four-years'  system  was  in  full  operation,  but  there  was 
still  a  nine-months'  class  of  unruly  devils,  about  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  that  we  found  ve^  difficult  to  man 
age.  The  reins  were  drawn  a  good  deal  tighter  than 
they  had  been  on  us,  for  we  had  not  been  supposed  to  set 
an  example  to  others,  while  they  were,  and  they  were 
very  restless  under  discipline  and  restraint.  If  I  remem 
ber  aright,  this  was  the  last  class  to  go  to  the  Academy 
under  the  old  system.  They  belonged  to  the  class  of 
Admiral  Kirkland,  Skerrett,  and  others  of  about  that 
time.  I  found  the  duties  of  the  Executive  branch  of 
the  Academy  but  ill-suited  to  my  tastes.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  we  were  a  sort  of  police  force,  and  I  could  not 
get  quite  accustomed  to  the  kind  of  espionage  which  was 
expected  of  us,  so  I  seized  an  opportunity  which  soon 
offered  of  being  changed  into  the  Department  of  Ethics 
and  English  studies.  The  Chief  of  the  Department  was 
Professor  Nourse ;  and  while  his  name  is  before  me  I 
cannot  resist  telling  of  a  remark  of  Jimmy  Howison.  as 
we  used  to  call  him,  who  was  then  Secretary  to  the  Su 
perintendent.  The  Superintendent  and  his  Secretary 
were  walking  together  one  day,  when  the  latter  saw 

142 


CAPTAIN  LOUIS  GOLDSBOROUGH 

Professors  Nourse  and  Coffin  approaching  them,  where 
upon  he  said :  "  Captain,  there  you  behold  the  begin 
ning  and  the  end  of  life." 

The  Superintendent  of  the  Academy  at  this  time  was 
Captain  Louis  Goldsborough,  a  man  of  immense  size, 
who  must  have  weighed  not  far  from  three  hundred 
pounds,  an  able  and  accomplished  officer,  with  manners 
somewhat  rough,  so  that  he  would  almost  frighten  a 
subordinate  out  of  his  wits,  but  he  was  au  fond  an  ex 
ceedingly  kind-hearted  man.  His  bark  was  a  great  deal 
worse  than  his  bite.  He  was  a  good  talker,  though, 
like  most  men  of  his  kind,  apt  to  use  a  good  many  su 
perfluous  words.  I  remember,  in  an  order  for  the  instruc 
tion  of  the  officer  left  in  charge  for  the  summer,  in  re 
ferring  to  the  steam-boiler  he  said,  "  If  the  water  gets 
low,  and  cold  water  is  admitted  to  the  boiler,  it  will  in 
fallibly  burst."  He  had  given  an  order  that  we  Assist 
ant  Professors  should  not  be  absent  more  than  twenty- 
four  hours.  I  desired  to  go  to  Baltimore,  to  be  absent 
longer  than  the  permitted  time.  In  reply  to  my  appli 
cation  he  said,  "  Understanding  that  Lieutenant  Frank 
lin  desires  to  go  to  Baltimore  for  the  purpose  of  consult 
ing  a  physician,  he  has  permission  to  be  absent  more 
than  twenty-four  hours."  I  replied  that  Lieutenant 
Franklin  did  not  wish  to  go  to  Baltimore  for  the  pur 
pose  of  consulting  a  physician.  He  then,  in  his  reply, 
said  that,  "  Notwithstanding  this  very  proper  correc 
tion,  Lieutenant  Franklin  has  permission  to  be  absent 
beyond  the  time  usually  allowed."  On  another  occa 
sion,  during  the  summer,  when  I  was  about  to  return  to 
Annapolis,  to  take  my  turn  in  charge  of  the  Academy, 
the  wife  of  the  officer  whom  I  was  to  relieve,  who  was 
very  anxious  to  get  away,  said  to  him  the  evening  be 
fore,  "I  am  so  afraid  Mr.  Franklin  will  not  be  back 

143 


MEMORIES  OF  A  REAR-  ADMIRAL 

in  time  for  us  to  leave  to-morrow."  "Did  he  say  he 
would,  madam  ?"  was  his  reply.  She  said,  "  Yes,  sir, 
he  did."  His  rejoinder  was,  "Then,  madam,  he  will 
certainly  be  here."  I  mention  this  to  show  what  entire 
confidence  he  had  in  any  one  in  whom  he  had  confi 
dence  at  all.  I  cite  the  other  anecdotes  to  illustrate  his 
redundancy  of  language  when  fewer  words  would  have 
answered  as  well.  Louis  Goldsborough,  as  every  one  at 
all  conversant  with  the  Naval  History  of  the  Civil  War 
knows,  came  out  of  it  with  great  credit  and  with  so 
good  a  record  that  he  was  a  prominent  candidate  for 
the  position  of  Yice-Admiral  when  that  gallant  seaman 
and  lovely  character  Kear- Admiral  Eowan  was  elevated 
to  that  high  office.  Goldsborough  received  the  thanks 
of  Congress,  and  remained,  in  consequence,  on  duty  long 
after  the  usual  age  of  retiring.  He  died  as  a  Eear- 
Admiral,  well  along  in  years. 

The  second  in  command  at  the  Academy  was  Com 
mander  Joseph  H.  Green.  There  were  a  number  of 
Greens  in  the  Navy,  so,  to  distinguish  him,  he  was  al 
ways  known  as  Joe  Green.  He  was  the  Commandant  of 
Midshipmen,  and  was  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of 
Seamanship  as  well  as  of  Discipline.  He  bore  a  very  high 
character,  both  as  an  officer  and  a  man,  and  he  managed 
his  branch  of  the  Academy  with  great  ability.  The 
Professors  at  this  time,  as  well  as  I  can  remember,  be 
sides  those  I  have  mentioned,  were  Chauvenet,  Lock- 
wood,  Giraud,  Roget,  Hopkins,  and  Seager.  Some  of 
them  were  very  able  men.  My  associates  amongst  the 
Assistant  Professors  were  Parker,  Yan  Ness,  Philip, 
Wainright,  Scott,  Wilcox,  Mayo,  and  Buckner.  There 
may  have  been  others  who  have  passed  out  of  my  mind. 
They  were  generally  fine  fellows,  some  of  whom  I  re 
member  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  There  was  a 

144 


PRACTICE-CRUISE    ON    THE    PREELE 

very  pleasant  society  at  Annapolis  at  that  time.  It  was 
small,  and  composed  of  some  of  the  old  Maryland  fami 
lies  which  had  been  distinguished  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Colony;  amongst  the  most  prominent  were  the  Randalls, 
Hagners,  Gills,  Pinkneys,  and  many  others.  I  was  very 
intimate  with  the  Gills,  and,  if  this  narrative  should 
ever  reach  the  eyes  of  any  of  the  family,  I  desire  them 
to  know  how  highly  I  appreciate  all  the  kindness  I  re 
ceived  at  their  hands. 

The  Purveyor  of  the  Academy  at  this  time  was  Colo 
nel  Swan,  for  whom  everybody  had  a  high  respect.  He 
not  only  provided  for  the  Midshipmen's  mess,  but  made 
those  of  us  who  were  bachelors  very  comfortable  by 
running  our  mess  for  us.  Swan  continued  in  this  posi 
tion  for  many  years,  and  hundreds  of  Naval  officers  can 
testify  to  his  ability  in  the  conduct  of  his  business,  and 
to  his  gentleman-like  and  kindly  character. 

The  winter  of  1854  was  not  especially  interesting.  It 
was  a  daily  routine  of  much  the  same  kind  of  existence. 
I  endeavored  to  teach  the  boys,  and  incidentally  was 
teaching  myself.  I  was  very  glad  to  have  this  sort  of 
mental  training,  for  it  brushed  up  what  I  had  already 
known,  and  taught  me  a  good  deal  besides.  About  the 
beginning  of  summer,  preparations  were  made  for  the 
practice-cruise  of  the  Midshipmen.  Parker  and  I  and 
some  others  were  detailed  for  the  cruise,  and  were  trans 
ferred  to  the  Preble,  which  was  commanded  by  Com 
mander  Green.  Wyman  was  the  Executive  officer ;  he 
eventually  became  a  Rear-Admiral.  He  had  a  stroke 
of  apoplexy  in  Riggs's  Bank  one  day,  and  was  car 
ried  to  the  house  where  we  were  both  living.  He 
was  too  ill  to  be  taken  up  to  his  room,  so  he  was 
placed  in  my  bed,  which  was  on  the  first  floor,  where  he 
died. 

K  145 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

The  cruise  was  not  a  very  eventful  one.  The  prac 
tice-ship  cruising  was  then  in  its  infancy.  Proper  pro 
vision  for  care  and  well-being  of  the  Midshipmen  was 
not  then  made,  and  the  poor  boys  had  a  very  hard  time 
of  it.  They  were  ill-fed,  and  were  not  well  cared  for. 
This,  of  course,  has  all  been  changed  since,  but  at  that 
time  there  had  been  but  one  little  experience  in  that 
line.  We  sailed  from  Annapolis  towards  the  middle  of 
June.  Our  final  destination  was  Eastport,  Maine,  but 
we  touched  along  at  most  of  the  important  points  lying 
between  Annapolis  and  that  port.  The  Midshipmen 
were  instructed  in  Seamanship,  Navigation,  and  Gun 
nery  during  the  cruise,  but  all  the  other  studies  were 
suspended  for  that  time.  So  the  summer  passed  away, 
and  the  early  autumn  found  us  again  in  Chesapeake 
Bay.  We  had  been  entertained  at  various  places  during 
the  cruise,  so  that  the  youngsters  had  opportunity  of 
seeing  something  of  polite  life,  as  well  as  having  the 
rough-and-tumble  experience  of  a  seaman ;  Mrs.  Little, 
a  prominent  lady  of  Portland,  gave  them  a  ball,  which 
they  enjoyed  immensely,  and  there  were  lesser  enter 
tainments  as  we  cruised  up  and  down  the  coast,  which 
helped  no-t  only  to  amuse  but  improve  them.  We  an 
chored  in  the  Patuxent  Eiver,  and  remained  there  sev 
eral  days.  While  there,  the  foremast  was  stripped,  and 
the  Midshipmen  were  instructed  in  the  practical  part  of 
rigging  ship.  This  was  always  considered  the  finishing- 
up  part  of  the  cruise.  When  that  was  completed  we 
got  under  way  and  went  to  Annapolis,  and  the  practice- 
cruise  was  at  an  end.  The  routine  of  the  Academy 
work  again  began. 

The  winter  of  1855-56  passed  without  any  special 
incident.  The  practice-ship  sailed  away  again,  but  I 
did  not  go  in.  her.  I  went  off  on  leave,  a  part  of  which 

146 


AT   WHITE    SULPHUR    SPRINGS 

I  passed  at  White  Sulphur  Springs.  There  I  met  my 
old  friend  and  shipmate  Joe  Bradford,  and  we  took  a 
room  together  in  what  was  then  called  Alabama  Eow. 
This  was  in  the  days  before  the  hotel  which  is  now 
there  had  been  built.  The  Caldwells  were  the  owners 
of  the  property,  and  they  pretended  to  keep  a  hotel,  but 
we  had  to  scratch  very  hard  for  a  living,  for  they  took 
the  ground  that  it  was  the  water  and  not  the  food  for 
which  they  charged.  My  visit  at  these  Springs  at  this 
time  has  left  a  very  indistinct  impression  upon  my 
mind;  I  do  remember  very  distinctly,  however,  a  Mr. 
Montcure,  who  always  wore  knee-breeches  and  top- 
boots  ;  as  I  thought  of  him  then,  he  was  the  most  aris 
tocratic-looking  American  I  had  ever  seen.  In  getting 
to  the  Springs,  much  of  the  trip  had  to  be  made  by 
stage.  It  was  a  slow  but  agreeable  way  of  travelling 
then;  now  it  would  be  intolerable.  Many  gentlemen 
from  the  Southern  country  went  there  in  their  own  car 
riages,  taking  their  slaves  with  them  to  take  care  of  the 
horses  and  wait  upon  their  masters  at  the  hotel  table. 
I  remember  so  well  that  there  was  an  old  darky  at  the 
stable  who  had  been  there  a  great  many  years.  It  was 
his  especial  business  to  see  that  the  servants  went  to  the 
stables  at  a  certain  time  to  feed  their  horses,  and  then 
to  see  that  they  returned  to  the  hotel ;  so  he  could  be 
heard  calling  at  the  top  of  his  voice  three  times  a  day 
the  following : 

Come  up,  come  up,  come  up  and  feed, 
And  then  go  and  wash  your  hands 
And  your  faces,  and  go  and  wait  on  your 
Masters  and  your  Mistresses." 


And  your  faces,  and  go  and 
Masters  and  your  Mistresses. 


But  the  railroad  drove  this  old  custom  away.     Fami 
lies  found  it  more  convenient  to  go  by  rail,  and  when 

147 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

the  new  hotel  was  finished  the  whole  establishment  was 
conducted  on  a  very  different  plan. 

Bradford  and  I  left  the  Springs  together,  and  he  ac 
companied  me  to  Annapolis.  My  leave  of  absence  had 
expired,  and  my  tour  of  duty  in  looking  out  for  the 
Academy  during  the  recess  had  commenced.  I  re 
mained  there  until  the  return  of  the  practice-cruise, 
when  we  all  came  together,  and  the  Academy  was  in 
full  blast.  I  did  not  remain  very  long  there  after  this. 
Teaching  boys  had  become  a  very  irksome  task. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

la  the  South  Atlantic — Lieutenant  Rodgers — "  Sandy  Welsh  " — In  Rio 
Again — Bahia — A  Slave-Trader's  Palace — Montevideo — Agreeable 
Society — Paraguay  and  Its  Dictator — Buenos  Ayres — End  of  the 
Cruise. 

TOWARDS  the  end  of  the  year  of  1856  I  was  detached 
and  ordered  to  the  Sloop-of-war  Falmouth.  She  was 
fitting  out  at  New  York  for  the  South  Atlantic  Station. 
The  prospect  of  a  three  years'  cruise  on  the  coast  of 
Brazil  and  the  river  La  Plata  was  not  very  alluring, 
but  there  were  worse  places,  so  I  made  up  my  mind 
that  it  was  not  so  bad,  after  all.  The  commanding  offi 
cer  was  Commander  Eben  Farrand,  a  very  kind-hearted 
and  amiable  man,  who  did  all  he  could  to  make  us  hap 
py  during  the  cruise.  He  insisted  upon  our  using  his 
cabin  as  our  smoking-room,  of  which  we  were  often  very 
glad  to  take  advantage.  George  Eodgers  was  the  First 
Lieutenant,  one  of  the  finest  seamen  that  ever  stepped 
a  ship's  deck,  and  in  all  respects  a  man  of  the  highest 
character.  He  converted  the  old  Falmouih  from  a 
snub-nosed  Sloop-of-war  to  one  of  the  triggest  ships  in 
which  I  have  ever  served.  Poor  Eodgers  was  killed  in 
the  Civil  War.  He  was  gallantly  fighting  his  ship  at 
Charleston,  when  a  projectile  struck  the  grating-cover 
of  the  pilot-house  of  the  Monitor  which  he  commanded 
and  shattered  it  to  pieces.  One  of  these  pieces  drove 
deep  into  poor  Eodgers's  brain,  and  he  was  instantly 
killed.  A  number  of  the  officers  who  sailed  on  this 
cruise  became  Eear- Admirals,  and  are  now  holding  that 

149 


MEMORIES    OF   A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

rank.  They  are  Skerrett,  Brown,  Walker,  Eamsay,  and 
Kirkland.  Skerrett  is  on  the  retired  list,  and  the  others 
are  all  now  on  duty.  They  were  then  Passed  Midship 
men,  with  the  exception  of  Skerrett,  who  was  a  Junior 
Lieutenant. 

The  winter  of  1856-57  was  extremely  cold.  "When 
the  Falmouth  was  ready  for  sea  she  had  to  be  cut  out 
of  the  ice  at  the  Navy- Yard,  and  towed  down  to  the 
open  water  in  the  Bay.  While  we  were  fitting  out  the 
ship  the  officers  would  go  on  board  every  day  and  at 
tend  to  the  work,  but  it  was  too  bitter  cold  to  attempt 
to  form  the  mess  until  we  were  compelled  to  do  so 
at  the  last  moment.  Meanwhile  most  of  us,  including 
the  Captain,  lived  at  the  Mansion  House,  in  Chambers 
Street,  New  York,  kept  by  Stelle  &  Letson.  I  mention 
this  because  it  was  an  old  Navy  house,  where  officers 
could  be  exceedingly  well  cared  for  at  reasonable  prices. 
The  proprietors  owned  a  farm  not  far  from  the  city, 
from  which  most  of  the  supplies  of  the  hotel  were 
drawn.  There  were  a  number  of  these  old-fashioned 
establishments  in  New  York  then,  well  known  to  Naval 
officers.  Prominent  amongst  them  was  a  restaurant  kept 
by  a  man  known  as  "  Sandy  Welsh."  Apropos  of  his 
name :  Admiral  Thatcher  once  told  me  that  some  lady 
wishing  to  have  her  husband  ordered  to  a  certain  ship, 
he  said  to  her  :  "  Why  don't  you  write  to  Sandy  Welsh  ?" 
having  the  name  in  his  mind,  but  meaning  Charles  W. 
Welsh,  Chief  Clerk  of  the  Navy  Department,  who  ran 
things  there  generally  at  that  time.  So  she  wrote  the 
letter  and  addressed  it  to  "  Sandy  Welsh,  Chief  Clerk," 
etc.,  etc.  She  received  an  immediate  reply,  as  follows : 

"  MADAME, — Your  letter  has  been  received,  but  your  request  can- 
DOt  be  complied  with. 

"  (Signed)  CHAS.  W.  WELSH  (not  SANDY)." 

150 


AT    RIO    DE    JANEIRO 

The  day  we  sailed  from  New  York  was  bitter  cold, 
but  soon  we  ran  into  the  Gulf  Stream  and  thawed  out. 
We  had  been  so  long  in  the  ice  at  the  Navy- Yard  be 
fore  sailing  that  the  nail-heads  of  the  copper  about  the 
water-line  were  worn  off,  and  on  the  passage  to  Rio  so 
much  of  the  copper  was  torn  away  that,  as  there  was 
no  dry-dock  in  South  America  at  that  time,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  return  to  the  United  States  to  have  the 
ship  docked.  We  remained  but  a  short  time  on  the  Sta 
tion,  and  sailed  for  home  to  have  this  very  important 
matter  attended  to  as  soon  as  possible,  going  to  Ports 
mouth,  N.  H.,  where  the  ship  was  docked  immediately. 
We  were  soon  ready  for  sea  again,  and  returned  to  our 
Station.  The  Squadron  on  the  coast  of  Brazil  then  con 
sisted  of  but  two  ships.  The  St.  Lawrence  was  the 
Flag-ship.  Commodore  French  Forrest  was  the  Com 
mander  -  in  -  Chief  of  this  small  fleet.  Our  cruising- 
ground  was  rather  limited.  The  only  ports  which  we 
visited  during  the  cruise  of  two  years  and  a  half  were 
Bio,  Bahia,  Montevideo,  and  Buenos  Ayres.  The  most 
important  of  these  was  Rio  de  Janeiro,  capital  of  the 
Brazilian  Empire.  It  was  constantly  growing  in  im 
portance  and  increasing  in  population.  Brazil  was  a 
mild  monarchy,  where  the  people  were  as  free  as  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States.  The  Empire  was  just  then  be 
ginning  to  build  railroads,  and  had  taken  up  the  march 
of  improvement  in  every  way,  and  the  country  has  been 
developing  ever  since.  In  a  former  part  of  this  narra 
tive  I  have  referred  to  the  beauties  of  this  magnificent 
Bay,  but  one  never  tires  of  calling  them  to  mind,  and 
the  Organ  Mountains,  as  they  overlooked  the  harbor, 
seemed  more  beautiful  than  ever.  Up  in  these  moun 
tains  is  a  celebrated  watering-place  called  Petropolis. 
It  has  much  the  same  relation  to  Brazil  that  Simla  has 

151 


MEMORIES    OF    A    RE AR- ADMIRAL 

to  India.  To  this  place  flock  in  the  hot  summers  the 
wealth  and  fashion  of  Brazil,  and  thus  escape  the  in 
tense  heat  of  that  tropical  region.  I  never  visited  Pe- 
tropolis,  but  passed  several  days  at  another  watering- 
place  not  far  from  Rio,  called  Tajuca.  It  is  by  no 
means  so  high  as  Petropolis,  but  is  still  high  enough  to 
cause  considerable  relief  from  the  sweltering  heat  of  the 
City.  The  view  from  there  is  superb  ;  indeed,  one  can 
not  go  amiss,  in  this  particular,  from  any  point  that 
overhangs  this  lovely  Bay. 

There  was  not  much  to  attract  us  to  the  shore,  except 
to  be  rid  for  a  while  of  the  monotony  of  ship-life ;  there 
was  absolutely  no  society.  Our  Minister,  Mr.  Meade, 
was  a  Virginian,  who  lived  at  Boto  Fogo,  a  beautiful  lit 
tle  suburb  of  Rio.  He  had  quarters  at  the  Hotel  Grande 
Bretagne,  a  house  containing  large,  cool,  airy  rooms.  To 
this  place  a  party  of  us  would  frequently  go  and  pass 
the  day  and  night.  The  sea-breezes  would  draw  through 
the  large  rooms  of  this  comfortable  hotel,  and  we  found 
we  could  spend  twenty-four  hours  at  a  time  very  happily 
without  going  outside  of  the  four  walls.  We  would 
have  our  game  of  poker,  our  good  dinner,  and  a  com 
fortable  night's  rest,  and  would  return  on  board  ship 
the  next  morning  very  much  refreshed,  and  go  at  our 
work  with  renewed  vigor.  Mr.  Meade  was  a  dignified, 
quiet  gentleman,  and  a  very  creditable  representative  of 
our  country.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  was  married  or 
not,  but  he  had  no  family  with  him.  The  name  of  the 
Consul  at  this  time  was  Scott.  We  did  not  see  much  of 
him.  I  believe  he  made  a  good  Consul,  and  had  the 
commercial  interests  of  the  United  States  very  much  at 
heart. 

We  did  not  remain  at  Rio  much  of  the  time  during 
our  cruise.  That  dreadful  scourge,  the  yellow-fever, 

152 


COMMODORE    FRENCH    FORREST 

had  fastened  itself  so  firmly  upon  the  place  that  it  was 
no  longer  the  resort  it  had  been  for  ships-of-war  in  for 
mer  years.  "When  I  first  went  there,  I  think  the  fever 
was  unknown,  but  at  the  time  of  which  I  write  I  be 
lieve  Kio  was  never  without  some  cases.  The  Purser 
of  the  Flag-ship  was  invalided  home,  which  sent  our 
Purser  (Abbot)  to  her.  The  Commodore  was  very  anx 
ious  that  I  should  take  his  place,  so  he  appointed  me  an 
acting  Purser;  the  disbursing  officers  of  ships  still  re 
tained  the  old  title,  which  has  since  been  superseded  by 
that  of  Paymaster.  The  office  exempted  me  for  the  re 
mainder  of  the  cruise  from  night-watches,  and  event 
ually  gave  me  additional  pay.  I  was  very  intimate 
with  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and  went  about  with 
him  a  good  deal  on  shore.  He  was  an  amiable  man, 
who  took  life  very  easy,  and  caught  at  pleasure  as  it 
flew ;  I  enjoyed  being  with  him,  for  he  had  a  sort  of 
personal  magnetism  which  made  him  an  attractive  com 
panion.  The  Commodore  had  no  Flag  Lieutenant,  but 
Assistant  Surgeon  Peck  was  such  a  constant  companion 
of  his  that  we  called  him  Flag  Lieutenant.  Peck  was 
a  very  good  fellow,  and  a  very  loyal  friend  of  Forrest's. 
The  Falmouth  visited  the  Port  of  Bahia;  and,  al 
though  the  City  is  not  very  interesting,  this  visit  was 
one  of  the  most  pleasing  incidents  of  the  cruise.  Our 
Consul  was  a  very  charming  man  named  Gilmer, 
who  had  filled  the  position  for  many  years.  He  was 
also  a  merchant,  and  lived  very  comfortably  in  a  large 
house  on  the  hill,  which  is  the  resident  part  of  the  town. 
He  had  a  very  agreeable  wife,  and  altogether  their  home 
was  most  attractive.  They  were  good  enough  to  invite 
the  Captain  and  me  to  be  their  guests  during  our  stay 
at  Bahia,  and  we  were  very  glad  to  accept  the  invita 
tion.  Bahia  is  composed  of  two  distinct  cities.  The 

153 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

business  part,  which  is  on  the  water-front,  does  not  pos 
sess  a  single  dwelling-house,  while  that  on  the  hill  is 
without  a  single  commercial  establishment.  To  go  from 
the  business  to  the  dwelling  part  is  like  going  into  the 
country,  and  yet  the  distance  between  the  two  is  not  at  all 
great,  but  the  hill,  which  it  is  necessary  to  mount,  is  very 
precipitous,  and  in  those  days  there  were  no  means  of 
being  conveyed  there  except  in  sedan-chairs.  These 
were  suspended  on  a  long  pole,  at  either  end  of  which 
was  a  stout  negro,  generally  of  the  purest  Congo  blood. 
The  motion  of  the  sedan-chairs  is  not  unpleasant,  but 
quite  unlike  that  of  any  other  mode  of  conveyance.  I 
went  about  a  good  deal  in  them  in  getting  back  and 
forth  from  my  home  at  the  Consul's.  The  negroes  of 
Bahia  were  the  finest  of  the  race  that  I  have  ever  seen. 
If  the  slave-trade  did  not  then  exist,  it  had  only  re 
cently  been  discontinued,  so  that  the  specimens  I  then 
saw  must  have  been  lately  imported.  They  were  as 
black  as  ebony,  their  forms  almost  perfect,  and  the  ex 
hibition  of  strength  in  their  muscular  development  was 
something  wonderful.  It  could  be  easily  seen,  as  they 
wore  nothing  but  clouts  about  their  loins.  It  was  really 
a  beautiful  sight  to  see  eight  or  ten  of  these  fellows  at 
the  two  ends  of  a  pole,  with  an  immense  cask  of  sugar 
or  molasses  slung  between  them,  singing  as  they  trotted 
along  with  a  load  which  seemed  to  me  enough  to  crush 
them,  saluting  us  as  they  passed  by,  varying  their  song 
to  a  sort  of  grunt,  and  giving  us  a  pleasant  smile  as 
they  lifted  their  feet  from  the  ground  all  together,  look 
ing  as  if  they  meant  to  say,  "  We  don't  mind  it." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  sights  which  I  witnessed 
while  I  was  at  Bahia  was  the  palace  of  a  slave-trader — 
a  negro — who  had  become  immensely  rich  through  traf 
fic  in  people  of  his  own  race.  He  had  a  number  of 

154 


IN    A    SLAVE-TRADER'S    PALACE 

wives,  whom  he  left  in  Africa.  As  his  children  grew 
up  he  would  bring  them,  to  Brazil  and  have  them  edu 
cated.  On  the  day  that  we  were  at  his  palace  there 
happened  to  be  but  one  of  them  at  home.  She  was  a 
nice-looking,  bronze  -  colored  girl,  with  good  features, 
well  dressed  in  some  simple,  cool  garment,  suitable  to 
the  climate.  Mr.  Gilmer  requested  that  she  might  be 
brought  into  the  parlor  where  we  were  seated,  where 
she  soon  made  her  appearance  —  a  little  shy,  but  not 
enough  so  to  make  her  appear  at  all  ill  at  ease.  She 
had  apparently  been  brought  up  in  luxury,  and  had 
perhaps  learned  good  manners  from  governesses,  or 
those  who  had  had  charge  of  her.  The  Consul,  who 
seemed  familiar  with  the  usages  of  the  establishment, 
asked  her  to  play,  when  she  sat  down  to  the  piano  and 
rattled  off  some  of  the  choicest  bits  of  "  II  Trovatore." 
We  were  all  delighted  with  this  performance,  for  it  was 
so  exceedingly  well  done.  Her  father,  the  owner  of  the 
palace,  was  absent  on  the  Coast  of  Africa,  gathering 
a  fresh  cargo,  with  which  to  add  to  the  wealth  accu 
mulated  in  this  nefarious  trade  in  his  own  race,  and 
possibly  his  own  blood.  I  have  never  forgotten  the 
remark  of  the  Consul  as  we  emerged  from  the  building : 
"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  this  is  all  the  result  of  wool 
and  ivory." 

Besides  sugar  and  coffee,  I  was  very  much  surprised 
to  find  that  tobacco  of  an  excellent  quality  was  also  an 
article  of  commerce.  The  cigars  seemed  to  me  but 
slightly,  if  at  all,  inferior  to  those  of  Cuba ;  indeed,  I 
do  not  remember  to  have  smoked  better  anywhere. 
They  were  well  made,  and  of  a  delicious  flavor.  The 
wonder  is  that  they  have  never  been  exported  to  the 
United  States.  At  the  time  of  which  I  write  there 
were  some  very  rich  men  in  Brazil.  There  were  diamond 

155 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

and  coffee  millionaires  with  them  then,  just  as  there  are 
railroad  and  Standard  Oil  millionaires  with  us  now.  I 
was  told  by  Colonel  Garnett,  an  American  who  was  there, 
employed  in  railroad  building,  that  in  the  rich  Province 
of  Matto-Grosso  there  lived  a  princely  Brazilian  who 
owned  vast  estates,  upon  which  he  worked  his  slaves  in 
thousands.  He  had  his  Catholic  Chapel  and  his  superb 
band  of  many  instruments,  and  governed  his  people 
more  like  a  ruler  than  a  subject  of  the  Emperor's.  He 
was  far  removed  from  the  seat  of  power,  and  as  the 
Provinces  were  almost  independent  then  of  the  central 
Government,  he  managed  things  pretty  much  according 
to  his  own  whims.  In  1858  the  House  of  Maxwell, 
Wright  &  Co.  still  existed  in  Rio.  It  had  made  many 
fortunes  for  its  people,  but  I  think  it  was  then  approach 
ing  its  end,  and  I  believe  it  has  now  ceased  to  exist 
altogether.  It  had  been  a  great  power  in  the  mercan 
tile  world ;  its  hospitable  doors  were  always  thrown 
open  to  Americans,  and,  as  in  the  great  houses  in  China, 
there  were  spare  seats  at  the  dinner-table  every  day, 
which  officers  were  expected  to  fill  without  formal  in 
vitation  whenever  it  suited  their  convenience. 

Most  of  our  time  during  the  cruise  was  passed  in  the 
River  La  Plata.  Montevideo  was  at  this  time  a  con 
siderable  port,  but  by  no  means  equal  in  importance  to 
what  it  has  since  become.  It  was  then  torn  by  revolu 
tions,  which  were  of  very  frequent  occurrence,  but  in 
spite  of  this  disorganized  condition  it  has  been  steadily 
increasing,  until  now  it  has  grown  to  be  a  large  and 
handsome  city.  The  Flag-ship  St.  Lawrence  was  obliged 
to  lie  three  or  four  miles  from  the  landing,  and  even 
then  her  draught  of  water  was  so  great  that  she  was 
frequently  in  the  mud.  The  Falmouih,  by  her  less 
draught,  was  enabled  to  lie  quite  in  the  port.  We 

156 


AGREEABLE  SOCIETY  AT  MONTEVIDEO 

anchored  near  Gowland's  Wharf,  and  made  prepara 
tions  for  a  long  stay.  Soon  we  became  quite  domes 
ticated,,  and  mingled  freely  with  the  inhabitants,  many 
of  whom  were  very  agreeable  people.  I  have  in  my 
mind  as  I  write  the  very  interesting  family  of  Don 
Juan  Gowland,  whose  lovely  daughter,  Consuelo,  mar 
ried  Kirkland,  the  present  Rear- Admiral.  We  went  a 
great  deal  to  Mr.  Gowland's  house,  where  we  had  music 
and  dancing,  and  practised  our  Spanish.  The  Senora 
and  her  charming  daughters  always  gave  us  a  hearty 
welcome,  and  there  is  no  family  that  I  have  met  abroad 
of  which  I  have  a  more  pleasant  remembrance.  I  have 
met  Mrs.  Kirkland  since,  and  she  is  a  lovely  woman 
now,  as  she  was  a  lovely  girl  then.  She  is  the  mother 
of  several  children,  one  of  whom  I  know;  she  also 
was  a  lovely  girl,  and  is  now  a  lovely  woman. 

I  remember  but  one  American  who  resided  in  Mon 
tevideo  at  that  time.  His  name  was  Usher.  He  had 
been,  I  think,  a  Midshipman  in  our  Navy,  and  was  af 
terwards  a  Commander  in  the  Brazilian  Navy.  He 
married  a  woman  of  the  country  and  had  an  interesting 
family.  His  house  was  a  great  resort  for  the  officers  of 
the  Squadron.  We  could  hear  our  own  language  spoken 
there,  and  there  we  also  practised  our  Spanish  and  drank 
mate,  or  Paraguay  tea.  This  beverage  is  served  in  a 
sort  of  gourd,  generally  mounted  with  silver,  into  which 
is  inserted  a  silver  tube.  It  is  drunk  as  we  drink  a  julep. 
The  hospitality  of  a  house  in  that  part  of  South  America 
is  not  considered  complete  until  the  mate  is  brought  in. 
Each  one  partakes  of  a  few  mouthfuls,  and  then  passes 
it  to  his  neighbor.  The  tube  is  sometimes  too  hot  for 
comfort,  but  the  Orientates,  as  Uruguayans  are  called, 
first  sip  it,  holding  the  tube  with  their  teeth,  without 
touching  their  lips  to  it.  In  the  long-run  the  teeth 

157 


MEMORIES    OF    A    HE AR- ADMIRAL 

suffer  from  this  practice,  and  I  have  noticed  frequently 
in  South  America  that  the  beauty  of  a  face  has  been 
marred  by  the  injurious  habit.  I  do  not  believe,  how 
ever,  that  any  true  Orientate  or  Portena  could  be  in 
duced  to  abandon  the  custom;  I  believe  they  would 
make  almost  any  sacrifices  rather  than  give  up  this 
cherished  luxury.  I  contracted  the  habit  to  some  ex 
tent  myself,  but  never  became  enthusiastically  fond  of 
it.  Lauriana  Usher,  who  was  the  beauty  of  the  family, 
was  a  great  favorite  with  us  all.  She  spoke  English 
very  well,  but  was  always  most  patient  in  teaching  us 
her  own  language.  She  was  a  pretty,  attractive  girl, 
and  a  beautiful,  graceful  dancer,  very  amiable  withal, 
and  ready  to  do  what  she  could  to  make  the  time  of  her 
half-countrymen  pass  pleasantly.  She  married  a  citizen 
of  Uruguay,  as  I  afterwards  learned ;  since  then  I  have 
entirely  lost  sight  of  her.  There  were  a  great  many 
Naval  officers  at  Montevideo  about  this  time,  owing  to 
the  arrival  of  Commodore  Shubrick  in  his  Flag -ship, 
the  Sabine,  with  a  squadron  of  small  steamers,  about 
which  I  shall  have  something  to  say  further  on.  Many 
of  the  officers  who  were  there  then  will  no  doubt  recog 
nize  some  of  the  Montevideo  names  that  I  am  about  to 
mention — the  Lafones,  the  Garcias,  the  Castillanos,  the 
Jacksons,  and  others  whose  names  I  have  forgotten. 
They  were  all  prominent  people  then,  and  they  added 
very  much  to  the  pleasure  of  our  sojourn  at  Montevideo. 
There  was  a  German  there  by  the  name  of  Bushenthal, 
perhaps  the  best-known,  and  probably  the  richest,  man 
in  the  city.  He  was  the  first  one  to  establish  a  good 
hotel  in  Montevideo.  He  placed  in  charge  of  it  his 
butler  and  cook.  It  supplied  a  much-needed  want,  and 
we  enjoyed  its  comforts  very  much.  It  was  admirably 
conducted  in  every  way,  as  I  had  ample  opportunity  of 

158 


PARAGUAY    BROUGHT    TO    TERMS 

knowing,  for  I  took  up  my  quarters  there  when  it  was 
opened  and  remained  there  a  long  time.  As  I  was 
Purser,  I  lived  on  shore,  and  fully  enjoyed  its  comforts. 
Bushenthal,  to  whom  we  were  indebted  for  all  this  com 
fort,  was  an  elegant  "  dude  "  of  about  fifty,  an  excellent 
talker,  and  always  faultlessly  dressed.  He  had  a  lisp, 
owing  to  the  loss  of  one  of  his  front  upper  teeth.  This 
vacant  space  was  his  especial  vanity.  He  fancied  that 
it  distinguished  him  from  others,  and  gave  him  an  air 
peculiarly  his  own,  so  he  never  had  the  tooth  replaced. 
He  was  an  interesting  man.  I  never  tired  of  hearing 
him  talk,  and  always  liked  him  very  much. 

The  Kepublic  of  Paraguay  was  at  this  time  a  sort 
of  military  despotism.  It  was  as  much  a  state  within 
itself  then  as  Japan  was.  The  Dictator  Lopez  dis 
couraged  all  intercourse  with  foreigners,  and  wished  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  outside  world.  He  was 
represented  as  a  cruel,  blood-thirsty  tyrant.  His  pred 
ecessor,  Francia,  was  said  to  be  such  a  monster  that 
people  grew  pale  even  at  the  mention  of  his  name.  An 
American  surveying-vessel,  while  examining  some  of  the 
tributaries  of  the  La  Plata,  passing  near  a  Paraguayan 
fort,  was  fired  into,  and  I  think  one  of  the  crew  was 
either  killed  or  badly  wounded.  For  this  outrage  the 
Dictator  declined  to  give  any  satisfaction  to  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States.  After  waiting  patient 
ly  for  a  long  time,  it  was  determined  finally  to  send  a 
Commissioner,  backed  up  by  a  fleet,  to  demand  repara 
tion  at  the  cannon's  mouth.  The  Commissioner's  name 
was  Boland ;  his  Secretary  was  the  celebrated  Sam 
Ward,  afterwards  "  King  of  the  Lobby "  at  Washing 
ton.  The  fleet  was  commanded,  as  I  stated  before,  by 
Commodore  Shubrick.  The  steamers  of  the  fleet  were 
a  lot  of  broken-down  hulks,  unworthy  of  the  name  of 

159 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

ships  of  war,  and  a  laughing-stock  to  other  nations ;  still, 
I  suppose  it  was  the  best  we  could  do,  and  as  they 
frightened  Lopez  into  making  the  terms  we  demanded, 
they  answered  our  purpose  as  well  as  a  better-equipped 
force.  The  Minister  and  his  Secretary  ascended  the 
river  in  a  vessel  of  war,  and  the  result  was  that  Lopez 
acceded  to  all  our  demands.  I  happen  to  remember  a 
funny  thing  that  Drayton,  who  was  Commodore  Shu- 
brick's  Chief  -  of  -  Staff,  told  me  at  the  time  about  Sam 
Ward.  Everybody  who  knew  anything  about  the  great 
lobbyist  will  remember  what  a  very  high  opinion  he 
had  of  his  own  importance.  "When  the  vessels  were  or 
dered  to  be  ready  to  sail  at  three  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon,  he  said  to  Drayton,  "Why,  they  cannot  sail  at 
that  time !"  "  Why  3"  said  Drayton ;  and  Sam  replied, 
"  Because  my  washed  clothes  would  not  be  in  at  that 
hour."  "  Do  you  suppose  they  are  going  to  wait  for 
your  washed  clothes?"  said  Drayton.  A  failure  to  do 
this,  Sam  Ward  thought,  would  be  a  very  hard  case  in 
deed;  I  do  not  remember  whether  they  were  left  be 
hind  or  not.  Since  the  creation  of  the  rank  of  Flag- 
officer,  without  any  especial  title,  we  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  addressing  our  Commander  -  in  -  Chief  as  Ad 
miral,  to  which  he  took  very  kindly.  When  Commo 
dore  Shubrick,  whom  everybody  called  Commodore, 
arrived  on  the  Station,  we  were  confronted  with  an 
embarrassing  problem.  Our  own  Chief  was  the  junior, 
and  yet  he  had  the  title  of  a  superior  officer.  It  was 
anomalous,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  I  do  not  remember, 
however,  that  any  friction  was  caused  by  it,  for  Shu- 
brick  soon  sailed  for  home,  taking  his  lame  ducks  with 
him. 

We  soon  settled  down  again  to  the  routine  duties  of 
the  Station.    The  "  Admiral "  took  the  Falmouth  and 

160 


GOOD    TIMES    AT    BUENOS    AYRES 

went  with  us  to  Buenos  Ayres.  It  was  an  uncomfort 
able  place  to  lie  at  that  time,  for  we  were  obliged  to 
anchor  three  or  four  miles  from  the  shore.  It  made 
but  little  difference  to  me,  for,  as  Purser,  I  took  up 
my  quarters  on  shore.  The  "  Admiral,"  Dr.  Peck,  and 
I  established  ourselves  at  the  Hotel  de  1'Europe,  an 
excellent  house — indeed,  the  best  at  that  time  in  Buenos 
Ayres.  We  found  the  Consul  living  there,  so  we  formed 
at  table  &partie  carree,  and  always  dined  together  very 
pleasantly.  The  Consul  was  William  Holley  Hudson, 
an  excellent  officer,  one  of  the  most  strikingly  hand 
some  men  I  have  ever  seen ;  indeed,  I  have  often  known 
people  turn  around  in  the  street  to  gaze  at  him ;  nor 
do  I  wonder  at  it,  for  he  was  a  pleasant  sight  to  look 
upon.  He  was  as  good  a  fellow  as  he  was  a  handsome 
man,  and  I  was  very  much  indebted  to  him  for  what 
ever  enjoyment  I  had  at  Buenos  Ayres.  We  saw  a  good 
deal  of  Mrs.  Chandler,  the  wife  of  Chandler,  who  died  a 
Rear-Admiral.  Chandler  was  at  the  time  attached  to 
the  surveying-vessel  we  had  in  these  waters,  command 
ed  by  Thomas  Jefferson  Page.  Mrs.  Chandler  inter 
ested  herself  in  getting  up  entertainments  for  us,  and 
contributed  largely  to  our  pleasure  while  we  were  in 
the  city.  There  was  a  very  beautiful  Portena  (which 
means  a  native  of  the  Port  of  Buenos  Ayres)  there  at 
this  time,  named  Carmencita  Saavedra.  She  was  a  great 
favorite  with  all  American  Naval  officers,  and  finally 
married  an  American  merchant  of  the  name  of  Zimmer 
man.  I  never  saw  her,  I  think,  but  once,  yet  her  im 
age  is  still  impressed  upon  my  mind  as  if  it  were  yes 
terday,  so  very  beautiful  was  she  at  that  time.  The 
women  of  the  River  La  Plata  always  seemed  to  me  far 
superior  to  the  men.  They  were  as  fine  specimens  of 
women  as  one  would  find  in  any  part  of  the  world,  and 
L  161 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

generally  made  excellent  wives  and  mothers.  It  was 
my  good-fortune  to  be  intimate  with  a  family  at  Mon 
tevideo,  where  no  English  was  spoken,  so  I  was  obliged 
either  to  keep  my  mouth  shut  or  to  speak  Spanish, 
which  I  did,  bad  as  it  was.  In  this  way  I  learned  the 
language  rapidly,  and  by  the  time  I  left  the  Station  was 
a  fairly  good  Spanish  scholar. 

A  great  change  has  taken  place  in  those  waters  since 
the  days  of  which  I  write.  Ships  can  go  right  up  to 
the  city  and  load  at  wharves,  while  at  that  time  the  car 
goes  were  taken  out  to  the  lighters  in  the  river  in  horse- 
carts,  and  then  lightered  out  to  the  ships  in  the  stream. 
There  were  no  railroads  then ;  now  a  railroad  extending 
from  Buenos  Ayres  to  Santiago  is  nearly  completed,  if 
not  entirely  finished.  Buenos  Ayres  is  now  a  great 
city,  probably  the  metropolis  of  South  America.  These 
cities  of  the  southern  half  of  the  continent  do  not  seem 
to  be  retarded  by  revolutions,  but  grow  in  spite  of  them. 
Even  Patagonia  and  Terra  del  Fuego,  which  were  con 
sidered  a  few  years  ago  fit  abodes  only  for  the  lowest 
grade  of  savages,  have  now  become  sheep-raising  and 
gold -hunting  countries,  and  have  held  out  inducements 
strong  enough  to  cause  colonists  from  distant  parts  of 
the  globe  to  settle  within  their  borders. 

The  cruise  of  the  Falmoutli  was  now  drawing  to  a 
close.  "We  had  reached  the  middle  of  the  year  1859, 
and  had  been  absent  from  home  about  two  years  and  a 
half.  The  terms  of  service  of  the  crew  were  about  ex 
piring,  and  it  was  nearly  time  to  pay  them  off.  I  do 
not  remember  whether  we  were  ordered  home  by  the 
Department,  or  whether  the  "  Admiral "  gave  us  the 
order.  Flag-officers  in  those  days  had  to  act  a  great 
deal  more  on  their  own  responsibility  than  they  do  now, 
being,  as  they  always  are,  at  the  other  end  of  a  tele- 

162 


RETURN  FROM  THE  SOUTH  ATLANTIC 

graphic  cable.  Forrest  told  me  once  that  he  had  not  had 
any  communication  from  the  Department  for  a  year. 
Such  a  condition  of  things  would  seem  impossible  now. 
We  accordingly  sailed  for  home,  and  reached  New  York 
about  the  middle  of  the  summer.  The  ship  was  paid 
off,  and  we  all  went  to  our  homes  with  three  months' 
leave  of  absence.  As  I  was  Purser,  I  was  delayed  sev 
eral  days  in  New  York  after  the  others  left,  but,  as  soon 
as  I  had  paid  off  the  crew,  I  followed,  glad  enough  to  be 
rid  of  the  ship  and  to  have  finished  the  cruise,  which 
had  become  very  tiresome. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

"Ordnance  Duty"— The  War  Cloud— Friendships  Broken— On  the 
Macedonian— Key  West  and  Pensacola — War-Time — The  Priva 
teer  Sumter — La  Guayra  and  Caraccas — In  Chase  of  the  Sumter 
— Home  Again. 

AFTEK  my  leave  of  absence  had  expired  I  sought  em 
ployment,  and  was  ordered  to  the  Washington  Navy- 
Yard,  where  I  reported  for  duty  in  the  Ordnance  De 
partment.  There  were  several  of  us  there,  and  I 
presume  the  idea  was  that  we  should  pick  up  such  infor 
mation  as  we  could,  but  I  do  not  remember  that  any  one 
took  the  trouble  to  teach  us  anything.  Naval  officers 
had  no  such  advantages  then  as  they  have  now.  There 
were  no  "War  Colleges  or  Torpedo  Schools  ;  there  was  no 
Bureau  of  Intelligence — indeed,  there  were  but  few  in 
ducements  held  out  to  us  to  get  above  the  level  of  the 
routine  Naval  drudge.  This  is  all  changed  now,  and  the 
modern  men  have  opportunities  which,  well  availed  of, 
should  make  them  the  most  accomplished  Naval  officers 
in  the  world.  I  soon  tired  of  this  Ordnance  duty,  as  it 
was  called.  The  only  thing  I  ever  did  was  to  work  out 
by  rule  of  thumb  some  problem  connected  with  the  ten 
sile  strength  of  iron.  I  never  understood  it,  and  no  one 
ever  took  the  trouble  to  explain  to  me  the  principle  of 
what  I  was  doing.  I  soon  had  my  station  changed  to 
the  Observatory.  The  facilities  held  out  here  for  im 
provement  in  the  higher  branches  of  the  profession  were 
no  greater  than  they  had  been  in  the  Ordnance  Depart- 

164 


CIVIL    WAR    THREATENED 

ment  of  the  Navy- Yard.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  I 
would  have  availed  myself  of  them  if  they  had  been, 
but  I  think  the  older  officers  should  have  shown  more 
interest  in  the  improvement  of  their  subordinates  in  the 
scientific  departments  than  they  did  at  that  time.  I  am 
glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  it  is  so  no  longer.  The  work 
that  the  Superintendent  gave  me  was  to  take  from  a  lot 
of  log-books  the  record  of  the  thermometer  and  barom 
eter  for  each  day,  extending  over  a  period  of  many 
months.  This  sort  of  thing,  if  kept  up  much  longer, 
would,  I  feel  sure,  have  dulled  my  intellect.  A  person 
who  could  barely  read  and  write  was  quite  equal  to  this 
humdrum  work.  I  did  not,  however,  remain  long  at  it. 
I  was  detached,  and  went  on  leave  of  absence. 

It  was  now  the  summer  of  1860.  The  country  was  in 
the  fever  heat  of  a  most  exciting  political  campaign.  It 
was  evident  then  that  if  Mr.  Lincoln  were  elected  there 
was  trouble  ahead.  I  passed  a  portion  of  the  summer 
at  White  Sulphur  Springs.  Since  1856,  when  I  had  vis 
ited  the  Springs  before,  great  changes  had  taken  place. 
A  new  hotel  had  been  built,  commodious  enough  to 
take  in  all  who  were  likely  to  patronize  it.  The  man 
ager  was  an  ex -Naval  officer  of  the  name  of  Hum 
phreys.  Of  course  there  was  a  great  improvement  upon 
the  old  days.  People  could  drink  the  waters,  and  en 
joy  the  comforts  of  a  good  hotel  besides,  which  was 
more  than  they  could  have  done  for  years  before. 
There  were  a  great  many  people  there  from  the  South, 
but  not  many  from  the  North.  Indeed,  Northern  peo 
ple  were  quite  out  of  place ;  they  were  on  Southern 
soil,  and,  with  the  feeling  at  that  time,  the  Southerners 
considered  it  was  peculiarly  their  own,  and  seemed  to 
look  upon  us  as  intruders  upon  their  domain.  I  had 
been  a  good  deal  in  Washington,  and  some  of  the  bitter- 

165 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

est  partisans  were  amongst  my  most  intimate  friends. 
Dr.  G win's  family  were  there,  and  I  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  very  frequently  at  their  house  when  I 
was  in  the  city.  Another  of  my  intimate  friends  was 
Ben  McCullough,  the  former  Texas  Ranger.  Then 
there  was  Tod,  of  the  Army,  who  was  intimate  with  all 
of  us  (although  I  cannot  call  him  a  bitter  Southerner) ; 
Mrs.  Myers,  whose  husband  was  at  that  time  an  officer 
of  the  Army,  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  was 
also  there.  We  formed  a  very  pleasant  little  coterie  at 
the  Springs,  and  although  the  times  looked  dangerous, 
none  of  us  believed  we  were  so  near  the  most  terrible 
Civil  War  that  the  world  had  ever  known.  Most  of  us 
separated  then,  not  to  meet,  except  for  a  short  time  in 
New  York,  until  the  restoration  of  peace.  Many  of 
those  with  whom  I  was  intimate  then  survived  the  War, 
and  I  have  been  on  more  or  less  pleasant  terms  with 
them  ever  since.  Mrs.  Gwin  is  now  living  in  California. 
I  saw  her  only  a  few  years  ago  in  San  Francisco ;  her 
daughters,  Mrs.  Coleman  and  Miss  Carrie,  are  there 
also.  William  Gwin,  her  only  son,  is,  I  believe,  some 
where  on  the  Pacific  Slope.  Mrs.  Myers  died  only  a 
few  years  ago.  She  was  a  lovely  woman.  She  did  not 
very  long  survive  her  husband,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
thorough  gentlemen  I  have  ever  known.  When  he  was 
about  to  die  he  named  his  pall-bearers,  and  I  felt  it  a 
distinguished  honor  to  be  chosen  as  one  of  them.  The 
others  of  the  company  were  Eobert  McLane,  General 
Joe  Johnston,  and  a  few  more  whose  names  have  passed 
out  of  my  memory.  Tod,  of  the  Army,  died  while  at  the 
Arsenal  at  Jefferson  Barracks.  He  was  in  the  Ord 
nance  and  in  charge  of  the  works  at  that  place.  He 
had  but  little  to  employ  his  time,  and  amused  himself 
raising  blooded  stock.  One  day,  while  driving  one  of 

166 


A    STORY    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

his  own  teams,  he  lost  control  of  the  horses,  was  precipi 
tated  to  the  ground,  and  instantly  killed.  Dr.  Gwin 
did  not  live  many  years  after  the  War.  I  was  a  fre 
quent  visitor  at  his  house  in  San  Francisco.  He  was  a 
charming  talker,  to  whom  I  always  listened  with  the 
greatest  pleasure.  To  my  mind,  Judge  Jerry  Black  and 
Dr.  Gwin  were  two  of  the  most  interesting  men  this 
country  has  produced. 

Most  of  us,  after  separating  at  the  Springs,  met  again 
in  New  York.  The  Gwins,  Tod,  Ben  McCullough,  and 
I  were  inseparable.  Miss  Lucy  Gwin  and  Ben  McCul 
lough  used  to  think  that  Tod  and  I  were  Abolitionists, 
and  Miss  Lucy,  who  hated  one  as  she  did  a  rattlesnake, 
was  constantly  chiding  us  with  it,  but  she  was  not  cer 
tain  enough  about  it  to  let  it  interfere  with  her  friend 
ship  for  us.  But  these  pleasant  friendships  were  soon 
broken  up.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  and  the  troubles 
began  to  come.  The  Southern  people  went  mad.  and 
got  the  worst  of  it.  But  the  War  has  been  long  over, 
and  there  are  no  better  Americans  at  this  day  than  our 
Southern  brothers.  I  am  reminded  just  here  of  a  story 
told  me  by  a  friend,  Captain  Parker  (commonly  called 
"  Billy  "  by  his  friends).  The  scene  is  laid  in  Norfolk ; 
the  occasion  was  a  small  tea-party,  and  the  subject  under 
discussion  the  late  Civil  War.  After  some  exciting  talk, 
one  of  the  ladies  said,  "The  South  has  been  defeated 
for  the  time,  but  she  will  rise  again"  Whereupon  Cap 
tain  S ,  formerly  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Navy,  said, 

"  There  is  no  rise  in  me."  Which  goes  to  show  that  the 
people  who  did  the  fighting  knew  what  it  was,  and  had 
no  desire  to  renew  it. 

I  was  ordered  to  the  Frigate  Macedonian  late  in  the 
year  of  1860.  The  Secessionists  had  taken  possession  of 
the  Navy- Yard  at  Pensacola,  and  we  were  ordered  to 

167 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

that  point  to  form  part  of  a  Squadron  of  observation, 
for  regular  hostilities  had  not  yet  begun.  The  Macedo 
nian  was  fitting  out  in  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire, 
where  the  weather  at  that  time  was  intensely  cold.  By 
a  piece  of  bad  management  the  crew  was  sent  from 
Boston  on  Christmas  Day.  The  Navy- Yard  was  closed, 
as  it  was  a  holiday,  and  it  was  impossible  to  get  even  a 
candle  with  which  to  light  the  ship,  or  indeed  any  other 
necessary  article.  The  crew  was  hustled  on  board,  and 
we  were  obliged  to  take  care  of  them  as  best  we  could. 
Of  course  Jackie  was  drunk — he  always  gets  drunk  on 
such  occasions,  or,  I  should  rather  say,  he  did  in  those 
days — and  as  we  had  no  organization  whatever,  Lieu 
tenant  Summer ville  Nicholson  and  I  were  obliged  to 
organize  ourselves  into  a  police  force.  We  were  com 
pelled  to  rush  in  amongst  a  crowd  of  drunken  sailors, 
and  knock  down  and  drag  out  until  we  succeeded,  final- 
\y,  in  restoring  order.  It  was  one  of  the  most  uncom 
fortable  nights  that  I  ever  passed  in  all  my  Naval  ex 
perience.  The  next  day  things  shook  down  a  little,  and 
in  a  week  we  were  in  fairly  good  running  order. 

The  captain  was  u  Jimmy"  Glynn.  I  hardly  ever 
heard  him  called  by  any  other  name,  so  I  will  let  it 
remain  so.  Marine  was  the  Executive  officer.  Sum- 
merville  Nicholson,  a  dashing  fellow,  was  Second  Lieu 
tenant.  Ward,  who  left  us  and  went  South,  was  one  of 
the  Lieutenants,  and  a  nice  little  fellow,  whose  name 
was  Babcock,  was  another.  The  Navigator  was  Bunce, 
who  now  commands  our  fleet  on  the  coast.  The  Marine 
officer  was  McCawley,  who  afterwards  became  the  Com 
mandant  of  the  Corps.  The  two  medical  officers  were 
Grier  and  Iglehart.  The  former  became  Surgeon-Gen 
eral,  and  is  now  living,  not  far  from  eighty  years  of  age. 
Iglehart  went  South.  He  was  a  nice  fellow,  and  I  was 

168 


BOUND    FOR    PENSACOLA 

sorry  to  lose  him.  Most  of  these  officers  are  now  dead. 
Those  only  that  I  know  are  living  are  Grier,  Nicholson, 
Bunce,  and  myself. 

When  the  ship  was  ready  for  sea  we  sailed  for  Key 
West,  where  we  arrived  after  a  reasonable  passage. 
"Jimmy"  Glynn  performed  as  pretty  a  piece  of  sea 
manship  when  we  entered  Key  West  as  I  have  ever  seen. 
He  took  the  ship  right  up  to  the  wharf  under  sail  and 
secured  her  there.  Take  him  altogether,  I  think  he  was, 
perhaps,  about  the  best  seaman  with  whom  I  have  ever 
served.  To  be  sure,  he  ran  the  ship  ashore  several  times, 
but  he  did  not  seem  to  mind  that,  and  would  say,  "  It 
was  good  practice  for  the  officers  and  men  to  get  her 
off."  At  Key  West  we  re-stowed  the  hold,  and,  having 
finished  that  and  some  other  work,  we  sailed  for  Pensa- 
cola,  taking  the  Tortugas  en  route.  In  the  latter  place 
we  found  the  late  General  Meigs  in  charge.  Floyd, 
Buchanan's  Secretary  of  War,  had  sent  him  there  to 
get  him  out  of  the  way,  but  Floyd  did  himself  more 
harm  than  good,  for  Meigs  did  excellent  work  there, 
and  soon  established  for  himself  a  reputation  in  the 
Army  which  made  him  eventually  Quartermaster-Gen 
eral,  one  of  the  very  best  the  country  has  ever  had.  He 
came  on  board  the  Macedonian  several  times  whilst  we 
were  there,  and  many  years  after  the  War  he  told  me 
something  which  had  long  since  passed  out  of  my  mind. 
He  said  that  he  saw  me  one  day  drilling  my  division  at 
the  guns ;  that  I  had  my  ordnance  manual  in  my  hand, 
and  that  as  I  explained  to  the  men  their  duties  they 
exhibited  so  much  intelligence,  and  seemed  to  be  so 
anxious  to  take  in  all  that  I  was  telling  them,  that  it 
made  an  impression  upon  his  mind  that  had  never  been 
effaced.  Somehow  or  other,  strange  to  say,  I  seemed 
to  recall  the  occasion  to  which  he  referred.  I  say, 

169 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

strange  to  say,  for  these  drills  were  an  every-day  occur 
rence  with  us. 

We  finally  reached  our  destination  off  Pensacola.  A 
singular  state  of  affairs  existed  there  then.  The  ]STavy- 
Yard  was  held  by  the  enemy,  while  a  Squadron  of  ob 
servation  cruised  off  the  harbor.  The  United  States 
mails  were  still  coming  through,  and  one  of  our  small 
steamers,  flying  a  flag  of  truce,  was  constantly  plying 
between  the  cruisers  and  the  Navy- Yard.  We  did  not 
remain  here  very  long,  not  long  enough  to  see  the  de 
struction  which  followed  by  the  burning  of  the  Navy- 
Yard  by  the  enemy.  About  this  time  the  European 
Powers,  notably  France,  were  taking  advantage  of  the 
big  contract  we  had  on  our  hands  to  interfere  in  the 
affairs  of  Mexico,  which  resulted  in  the  accession  of 
Maximilian  to  the  throne  as  Emperor  of  that  country, 
and  his  final  overthrow  and  execution  later  on.  In  view 
of  the  situation  it  was  thought  proper  by  our  Govern 
ment  to  station  a  man-of-war  at  Yera  Cruz  to  watch  the 
course  of  events.  We  were  selected,  and  soon  sailed  for 
that  point,  but  it  was  the  season  of  violent  gales  from 
the  north.  We  anchored  at  Sacrificio,  an  island  four 
miles  from  Yera  Cruz,  and  remained  at  this  anchorage 
for  several  months.  It  was  about  the  dullest  and  most 
uninteresting  work  in  which  I  have  ever  been  engaged. 

Meanwhile  the  Civil  War  was  upon  us,  and  we  re 
turned  to  Key  West  just  in  time  to  hear  of  the  battle 
of  Bull  Eun.  The  privateer  Sumter  was  out  running 
amuck  amongst  our  merchant  -  ships,  and  had  already 
done  a  good  deal  of  execution  when  we  reached  there. 
Every  craft  that  was  available,  and  that  could  be  spared 
from  other  service,  was  sent  in  search  of  her,  amongst 
others  the  Macedonian.  It  was  a  good  deal  like  sending 
a  tortoise  to  catch  a  hare.  Still  there  was  a  possibility 

170 


FROM    LA    GUAYRA    TO    CARACCAS 

of  meeting  her  in  a  neutral  port,  and  "  Jimmy  "  Gly  nn 
told  me  that  if  he  did  so  meet  her  he  intended  to  sink 
her  then  and  there,  and  leave  the  neutral  nation  to 
settle  the  matter  with  the  United  States  as  best  she 
could.  So  we  sheeted  home  our  top-sails  and  kept  away 
for  the  Spanish  Main.  Our  first  port  was  La  Guayra, 
where  we  remained  for  several  days.  The  Captain 
asked  me  to  accompany  him  to  Caraccas,  and  I  was 
very  glad  to  accept  his  invitation.  We  started  off  in 
dashing  style  in  a  vehicle  drawn  by  three  horses  in  the 
form  of  a  spike-team.  The  distance  was  about  twelve 
miles,  and  the  ascent  to  the  City  about  five  or  six  thou 
sand  feet.  We  flew  along  at  a  racketing  pace  with  our 
mountain  horses,  which  seemed  to  do  their  work  with  a 
hearty  good-will,  without  any  apparent  effort,  through 
out  the  whole  journey.  The  trip  from  La  Guayra  to 
Caraccas  is  probably  one  of  the  most  beautiful  drives  in 
the  world.  As  one  ascends,  Alps  seem  to  rise  upon  Alps, 
unfolding  to  the  view  scenery  as  grand  and  sublime  as 
can  be  seen  in  any  part  of  the  world.  As  we  descended 
the  hills  our  driver  would  let  his  horses  out,  and  they 
would  rush  down  at  a  breakneck  pace  past  the  edges  of 
ravines  fearfully  precipitous,  the  valleys  lying  a  thou 
sand  feet  below.  I  would  hold  my  breath  as  we 
rushed  by  them,  for  had  a  wheel  worked  off  nothing 
could  have  saved  us  from  destruction.  There  were  no 
brakes  on  the  wagons,  nor  were  there  breechings  to  the 
horses,  so,  when  once  started,  there  was  nothing  to  stop 
them  but  the  rise  of  the  hill  we  were  approaching. 
Dangerous  as  all  this  seemed,  I  was  told  that  accidents 
were  rare,  for  the  vehicles  were  good,  as  well  as  the 
horses,  and  the  drivers  were  excellent.  We  found 
Caraccas  a  very  pretty  city,  very  Spanish  in  its  char 
acter,  like  all  the  cities  of  South  America,  clean  and 

171 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

well  drained,  and  very  picturesque,  not  only  from 
within,  but  from  without  as  well.  The  climate  is  su 
perb,  for  it  is  there  perpetual  spring.  While  it  is  situ 
ated  in  the  torrid  zone,  its  great  elevation  so  tempers  it 
that  one  is  never  too  warm  or  too  cold.  Venezuela 
will,  no  doubt,  in  time,  become  an  important  country. 
I  think  England  appreciates  this,  and  so  hesitates  to 
give  up  her  hold  upon  the  rich  portion  which  she  claims, 
and  which  but  lately  has  been  the  subject  of  a  diplomatic 
controversy.  The  early  discoverers  thought  they  saw 
in  some  portion  of  Venezuela  something  that  reminded 
them  of  Venice,  and  so  they  gave  it  the  name  it  now 
bears,  that  of  Little  Venice. 

We  returned  to  La  Guayra  and  sailed  almost  immedi 
ately  for  the  Island  of  Trinidad.  Beating  to  windward 
on  that  coast  is  a  most  difficult  undertaking,  to  which 
Columbus,  if  he  were  living,  could  testify,  for  he  tried  it, 
with  about  the  same  success  that  we  had.  We  endeav 
ored  to  keep  close  inshore  in  the  hope  of  avoiding  the 
strong  current  caused  by  the  trade -winds.  Then  we 
tried  beating  through  the  passage  between  the  Island  of 
Magdalena  and  the  mainland,  where  we  plunked  the 
ship  ashore  on  two  different  occasions.  It  was  all  of  no 
avail.  We  did  gain  a  little  to  windward,  but  we  were 
using  up  a  great  deal  of  time  for  a  trifling  result.  We 
were  still  looking  for  the  Sumter,  without  the  most  re 
mote  chance  of  ever  finding  her.  Still,  Captain  "Jimmy  " 
Glynn  thought  it  possible  he  might  find  her  in  some 
West  India  port,  so  he  gave  up  Trinidad  and  squared 
away  for  St.  Thomas.  We  had  a  good  breeze  and  soon 
stretched  across  the  Caribbean  Sea.  We  sighted  "  Sail 
Kock  "  in  the  morning,  and  anchored  at  St.  Thomas  soon 
after.  Apropos  of  "  Sail  Kock,"  which  is  so  called  be 
cause  it  resembles  a  ship  under  full  sail,  Glynn  told  me 

172 


AT    ST.   THOMAS 

that  he  sailed  with  some  Captain  who  was  so  afraid  of 
running  into  it  that,  in  starting  from  the  Spanish  Main 
for  St.  Thomas,  he  never  closed  his  eyes  until  he  reached 
there.  I  can  quite  understand  it,  for  I  have  known 
many  such  men  in  my  experience.  "  Jimmy  "  was  not 
one  of  them,  however,  for  I  never  knew  a  bolder  navi 
gator.  Before  reaching  St.  Thomas  we  spoke  an  Amer 
ican  merchant-ship.  She  had  been  boarded  by  the  Sum- 
ter,  and,  I  presume,  had  everything  of  any  value  taken 
out  of  her  by  that  privateer,  and  was  then  ransomed.  The 
Captain  of  the  merchant  -  vessel  was  ranging  up  and 
down  the  quarter-deck  of  his  ship  in  a  towering  rage, 
denouncing  the  Captain  of  the  Iroquois,  who,  he  thought, 
ought  to  have  captured  the  Sunder.  A  few  days  before 
he  came  very  near  doing  so,  but  luck  was  against  him, 
and  she  eluded  his  grasp  one  very  dark  night.  I  think 
she  made  her  escape  from  Martinique.  The  Captain  of 
the  Iroquois  had  made  every  disposition  to  insure  suc 
cess,  but  the  fates  were  against  him,  and  she  escaped. 
He  was  James  Palmer,  of  whom  Farragut  had  a  very 
high  opinion.  I  think  he  commanded  the  Flag-ship 
when  the  Admiral  passed  the  Mississippi  Forts.  Palmer 
died  of  yellow-fever  in  the  West  Indies  after  the  War. 
He  was  a  Rear- Admiral  at  the  time,  and  commanded  our 
squadron  in  those  seas.  We  found  St.  Thomas,  one  of  the 
Danish  West  India  Islands,  a  very  convenient  stopping- 
place  during  the  War.  Our  steamers  were  constantly  put 
ting  in  there  for  coal.  The  ships  were  coaled  by  women, 
who  formed  a  procession  from  the  coal-pile,  each  one 
carrying  a  basket  on  her  head.  In  this  way  a  ship  was 
rapidly  coaled.  It  would  be  a  valuable  coaling  station 
for  the  United  States,  which  at  one  time  was  in  negotia 
tion  for  it,  but  it  would  be  so  only  if  it  were  well  forti 
fied.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  very  unwise  for 

173 


MEMORIES    OF   A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

this  Government  to  establish  coaling  stations  at  any 
point  which  is  not  fortified  and  controlled  by  it,  for  in 
time  of  war  such  stations  would  be  easy  prey  to  an  ene 
my  whose  naval  force  might  for  the  time  be  superior  to 
ours. 

I  presume  that  the  authorities  at  the  JSTavy  Depart 
ment  finally  concluded  that  the  Macedonian,  in  her  pur 
suit  of  the  Sumter,  was  engaged  in  a  hopeless  under 
taking,  for  we  found  orders  at  St.  Thomas  to  return 
to  the  United  States.  We  sailed  for  Boston  about  the 
15th  of  December,  1861,  and  soon  reached  the  neigh 
borhood  of  George's  Shoal.  We  buffeted  about  between 
there  and  Boston  Bay,  encountering  gale  after  gale,  ac 
companied  with  snow  and  intense  cold.  The  weather 
was  so  severe  that  we  could  no  longer  keep  the  four 
hours'  watch,  but  took  our  turns  more  frequently,  and 
only  two  hours  at  a  time.  I  think  it  was  altogether  the 
roughest  experience  I  had  ever  had.  When  the  wind 
was  fair  for  running  in  the  weather  was  foul  and  we 
could  see  nothing,  and  when  the  weather  was  fair  the 
wind  would  be  ahead  and  we  could  make  almost  noth 
ing  towards  our  port.  During  this  trying  weather  one 
of  the  crew  died.  We  had  him  laid  out,  and  were  keep 
ing  his  body  with  the  hope  of  giving  him  a  decent  bur 
ial  on  shore,  but  the  men,  used  up  by  the  cold  and  loss 
of  rest,  attributed  our  ill-luck,  in  their  own  supersti 
tious  way,  to  the  retention  of  the  body  on  board.  So 
the  Captain,  in  deference  to  this  feeling,  directed  that  it 
should  be  buried  at  once.  The  night  was  dark  and 
stormy  when  the  poor  fellow  was  taken  to  the  gang 
way,  and  in  the  presence  of  his  messmates,  by  the  light 
of  a  solitary  lantern,  was  launched  into  the  sea.  We 
finally  succeeded  in  getting  into  Boston  Bay,  but  we 
were  obliged  to  anchor  and  remain  at  anchor  for  several 

174 


LEAVE    THE    MACEDONIAN 

days,  while  the  northwest  gale  that  was  blowing  should 
blow  itself  out.  The  Macedonian  was  put  out  of  com 
mission,  and  the  crew  transferred  to  the  gunboats  that 
were  fitting  out  there.  The  officers  soon  dispersed; 
some  went  to  their  homes,  others  to  the  new  duties  that 
were  awaiting  them. 


CHAPTER  XV 

In  Hampton  Roads— Raid  of  the  Merrimac— Destruction  of  the  Con 
gress  and  the  Cumberland — The  Monitor  Appears — Fight  of  the  Iron 
clads—On  the  Dacotah — End  of  the  Merrimac — With  Farragut  at 
New  Orleans — First  Command  on  the  Aroostook — An  Accident  at 
Washington. 

IN  the  early  days  of  1862  I  was  ordered  to  duty  at 
the  Washington  Navy -Yard.  Captain  Dahlgren  was 
then  in  command.  He  directed  me  to  give  especial  at 
tention  to  fitting  out  the  Pinola,  one  of  the  forty  gun 
boats  that  had  been  hurriedly  built.  They  called  them 
"  plumpers,"  because  they  each  carried  one  eleven-inch 
gun,  with  which,  when  they  had  a  fair  chance,  they  did 
excellent  plumping  execution.  The  Pinola  was  com 
manded  by  the  present  Rear-Admiral  Pierce  Crosby, 
now  a  Rear- Admiral  on  the  retired  list,  a  charming  fel 
low,  and  always  a  gallant  officer;  he  had  an  excellent 
record  during  the  Civil  "War,  and  I  shall  have  occasion 
to  speak  of  him  again  in  reference  to  the  operations  in 
Mobile  Bay. 

I  did  not  remain  long  at  the  Navy- Yard,  but  was  or 
dered  as  Executive  officer  of  the  Dacotah.  I  proceeded 
to  Hampton  Koads  to  join  her,  but  she  was  somewhere 
on  a  cruise  and  had  not  reached  there,  so  I  took  up  my 
quarters  on  board  the  Roanoke^  awaiting  her  arrival. 
It  was  known  that  the  Confederates  had  been  employed 
for  some  time  in  converting  the  Merrimac,  one  of  the 
ships  of  the  old  Navy,  of  the  Wabash  and  Roanoke  class, 

176 


VICTORY    OF    THE    MERRIMAC 

into  an  ironclad.  No  special  precautions  seem  to  have 
been  taken  to  meet  such  a  vessel  should  she  be  a  success 
and  venture  out  to  attack  the  wooden  vessels  moored  off 
Newport  News.  The  Monitor  had  been  some  time  in 
course  of  construction  at  New  York,  and  it  was  thought 
was  perhaps  completed,  but  she  had  not  yet  reached 
Hampton  Koads.  While  we  were  in  this  unprepared 
condition,  one  fine  morning  in  the  early  part  of  March, 
1862,  the  Merrimac,  or  Virginia,  as  the  Confederates 
called  her,  steamed  down  from  Norfolk  and  immediate 
ly  attacked  the  Congress  and  the  Cumberland^  then  at 
anchor  off  Newport  News.  The  Minnesota  and  the 
Roanoke  got  under  way  and  went  as  near  to  the  scene  of 
the  conflict  as  they  could  get ;  the  Roanoke  was  entirely 
helpless,  as  her  motive  power  was  hopelessly  disabled, 
so  we  took  a  couple  of  tugs  alongside  and  moved,  though 
slowly,  towards  the  scene  of  action.  The  Minnesota 
grounded,  and  my  impression  is  that  the  Roanoke  did 
also,  but  the  latter  succeeded  in  getting  off.  I  was  only 
a  passenger  on  board,  but  the  Captain  gave  me  charge  of 
the  forward  pivot-gun.  We  could  not  get  within  range 
of  the  fight,  so  could  be  of  no  great  assistance.  I  think 
we  were  struck  once  or  twice  by  the  batteries  at  Sewall's 
Point,  but  sustained  no  injury  other  than  the  cutting  of 
a  shroud,  or  some  slight  hurt  of  that  kind. 

Meanwhile  the  Congress  and  the  Cumberland  were  en 
tirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  ironclad.  After  fighting  gal 
lantly  against  tremendous  odds,  and  with  a  certainty 
of  destruction,  and  after  great  loss  of  life,  finding  that 
their  shot  bounded  like  india-rubber  balls  from  the  case 
mate  of  the  Merrirnac,  making  no  impression  upon  her 
whatever,  while  all  of  her  shot  pierced  these  two  help 
less  ships  with  terrible  effect,  the  Congress  surrendered, 
and  the  Cumberland  soon  sank  with  her  colors  flying 
M  177 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

as  she  went  down.  Meanwhile  darkness  set  in,  and  the 
heavens  were  soon  lighted  up  by  the  burning  Congress. 
It  was  a  beautiful  sight,  but  one  of  the  saddest  I  have 
ever  witnessed.  We  watched  it  for  several  hours,  then, 
like  a  tremendous  bombshell,  and  with  a  roar  that  could 
be  heard  for  miles  around,  the  Congress  went  up  into 
the  air  with  a  fearful  explosion.  The  magazine  had 
been  reached  by  the  flames,  and  what  the  fire  had 
left  unconsumed  was  blown  into  atoms.  The  Roanoke 
succeeded  in  getting  afloat,  and,  expecting  to  meet  with 
the  same  fate  as  the  others  if  she  remained  where  she 
was  in  her  disabled  condition,  it  was  thought  best  to 
anchor  near  Fortress  Monroe,  where,  with  the  assistance 
and  protection  thus  afforded,  she  could  more  readily 
make  an  effort  to  save  herself  from  destruction.  During 
the  evening  a  steamer  came  alongside  from  the  Fort  in 
charge  of  Captain  Talmadge,  of  the  Quartermaster's  De 
partment,  who  requested  Captain  Marsden,  of  the  Roa 
noke,  to  permit  me  to  go  with  him  down  to  the  Minnesota. 
After  a  good  deal  of  hesitation  Marsden  told  Talmadge 
that  he  would  let  me  go  if  he  would  return  me  on  board 
by  midnight.  With  this  understanding,  we  started  up 
towards  Newport  News  and  went  on  board.  It  was  not 
a  pleasing  sight  nor  a  hopeful  outlook,  for  if  the  ship 
did  not  get  afloat,  it  looked  as  if  nothing  would  save 
her  from  destruction  in  the  morning.  Captain  Marsden 
told  me  to  say  to  Captain  Van  Brunt,  of  the  Minnesota, 
that  if  he  did  not  get  his  ship  off  by  morning  he  would 
go  down  in  the  Roanoke  and  share  its  fate,  whatever 
that  might  be.  Instead  of  getting  back  to  the  Roanok.e 
by  midnight,  it  was  nearly  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
when  I  made  my  report  to  Captain  Marsden. 

Meanwhile  the  little  Monitor,  with  Lieutenant  Wor- 
den,  had  arrived  from  New  York.     She  steamed  down 

178 


THE  MONITOR  DEFEATS  THE  MERRIMAC 

at  once,  anchored  near  the  Minnesota,  and  prepared  for 
the  ironclad  conflict,  which  was  sure  to  take  place  the 
next  day.  As  soon  as  day  broke,  this  strange-looking 
craft  steamed  gallantly  towards  the  Merrimac  and 
opened  upon  her  with  a  hammering  that  she  had  little 
suspected.  The  fire  was  immediately  returned,  and  thus 
began  one  of  the  most  famous  conflicts  known  to  mod 
ern  times.  Famous,  not  only  because  it  was  a  terribly 
hard-fought  battle,  but  because  it  inaugurated  a  new 
system  of  Naval  warfare,  or  perhaps  it  would  be  better 
to  say  Naval  warfare  by  engines  of  war  hitherto  un 
known  in  Naval  battles.  What  the  effect  of  the  fight 
was  at  the  time  can  be  easily  imagined.  To  say  noth 
ing  of  the  prestige  our  Nav}7  gained  by  it,  it  saved  mill 
ions  of  dollars'  worth  of  property  to  the  United  States, 
and  cheered  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  North,  resulting 
from  the  loss  of  the  Congress  and  the  Cumberland.  The 
Government  and  people  of  the  country  showed  their 
appreciation  of  it  by  rewarding  the  gallant  Worden  for 
his  services,  but,  in  my  opinion,  not  to  the  extent  he 
deserved,  taking  into  consideration  the  importance  of 
the  event  and  the  results  which  followed  from  it. 

The  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Fox,  arrived 
about  this  time  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and,  seeing  the 
danger  to  which  our  wooden  ships  were  exposed,  sent 
the  Brandywine  Store-ship  up  to  Baltimore,  and  de 
spatched  the  Roanoke  to  New  York.  The  Minnesota 
was  retained  and  was  the  Flag-ship  of  Admiral  Golds- 
borough.  The  JRoanoJce  sailed  immediately,  and,  as  the 
Dacotah  had  not  yet  arrived,  I  found  myself  landed 
on  the  beach.  Colonel  John  Taylor,  Commissary  of  the 
Post,  was  kind  enough  to  invite  me  to  share  his  quar 
ters,  which  I  was  only  too  glad  to  do.  The  excitement 
at  Old  Point  at  this  time  was  intense.  Some  strange 

179 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

and  startling  incident  seemed  constantly  at  hand.  About 
dark,  after  the  second  day's  fight,  one  of  our  Gunboats 
lying  at  anchor  near  Hampton  took  fire.  The  flames 
gained  so  rapidly  that  it  was  found  impossible  to  sub 
due  them,  so  she  had  to  be  abandoned.  The  magazine 
had  probably  been  flooded,  since  there  was  no  explo 
sion,  but  the  guns  were  all  loaded,  and  we  knew  that 
if  they  became  sufficiently  heated  before  the  Gunboat 
burned  to  the  water's  edge  they  must  discharge  them 
selves  towards  the  Fort,  as  well  as  in  the  opposite  direc 
tion,  for  her  broadside  pointed  right  at  us.  And  it  was 
just  this  that  did  happen.  Taylor  and  I  walked  down 
to  the  ramparts  to  look  at  the  burning  vessel,  when  a 
sentinel  near  by  told  us  that  we  were  not  in  a  very  safe 
place,  that  a  ball  had  whizzed  past  him  only  a  short 
time  before.  We  rather  pooh-poohed  the  idea,  when 
another  came  screeching  by,  almost  immediately  after. 
We  concluded  that  that  was  no  place  for  us,  so  return 
ed  to  our  quarters,  and  soon  after  retired.  The  next 
morning  a  piece  of  shell  was  found  lying  just  outside 
of  our  rooms  on  the  porch,  and  there  was  a  hole  in  the 
roof  which  had  been  made  by  this  fragment  as  it  de 
scended,  the  fragment  being,  of  course,  a  portion  of  an 
exploded  shell  from  the  guns  of  the  burning  Gunboat. 

In  a  few  days  after  the  incidents  which  I  have  just 
related,  the  Dacotah  came  in.  and  I  assumed  my  duties 
as  her  First  Lieutenant.  McKinstry  was  the  Captain, 
Ames  the  Navigator,  Dr.  Bloodgood  the  Surgeon,  and 
Richard  Washington  the  Paymaster.  We  had  also 
some  volunteer  officers  who  had  recently  entered  the 
service  from  the  merchant  marine.  The  Merrimac  had 
only  been  scotched ;  she  was  not  killed.  The  Confed 
erates  were  losing  no  time  in  preparing  her  for  another 
raid.  We  were  not  idle  on  our  part.  Mechanics  were 

180 


CALLING    BACK    A    FLAG-OFFICER 

working  night  and  day  in  the  little  Monitor,  and  she 
was  being  put  in  condition  once  more  to  meet  her  for 
midable  antagonist.  The  Ya/nderbilt  had  been  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Government  by  her  patriotic 
owner,  fitted  to  ram,  and  we  were  satisfied  that  a  fair 
blow  from  her  would  have  been  the  finishing  stroke  to 
the  Merrimac.  The  little  Dacotah,  of  which  I  was  the 
Executive  Officer,  also  had  orders  to  ram  her  if  she  came 
out.  Probably  at  full  speed  we  should  have  rammed  a 
hole  in  her,  but  I  doubt  if  there  would  have  been  any 
thing  of  the  Dacotak  left.  Some  one  put  the  question 
to  Admiral  Goldsborough,  who  then  commanded  the 
Fleet  in  Hampton  Roads,  "What  would  become  of  the 
Dacotah  after  she  had  rammed  the  Merrimac  ?"  His 
reply  was :  "  If  anybody  will  tell  me  what  becomes  of 
the  tallow-candle  after  it  is  fired  through  a  pine  board, 
I  will  answer  that  question." 

As  time  went  on,  the  air  was  full  of  rumors  about  the 
coming  out  of  this  formidable  craft,  and  there  were 
many  false  alarms.  Before  I  joined  the  Dacotah,  while 
living  with  Colonel  Taylor,  Captain  Poor,  who  was  in 
charge  of  the  Ordnance  for  the  Navy  at  Old  Point,  and 
I,  having  heard  that  the  Merrimac  was  coming  out,  and 
seeing  a  general  rush  for  the  beach,  joined  the  crowd, 
and  as  we  reached  the  landing  found  the  Flag-officer  in 
the  act  of  shoving  off.  We  hailed  him  and  volunteered 
for  service  on  board  the  Flag-ship.  He  seemed  very 
much  annoyed  that  we  had  dared  to  call  him  back  to 
take  us  on  board.  However,  he  backed  his  boat  into 
the  landing  and  picked  us  up,  and,  after  giving  us  a 
piece  of  his  mind  upon  the  impropriety  of  calling  back 
a  Flag-officer,  became  very  amiable,  asked  us  to  dinner 
after  we  reached  the  Minnesota,  and  was  extremel}7  po 
lite  for  the  rest  of  the  time  that  we  were  on  board. 

181 


MEMORIES    OF    A    HE AR- ADMIRAL 

As  I  have  said  before,  in  another  part  of  this  narrative, 
his  bark  was  worse  than  his  bite.  The  report  proved  a 
false  alarm,  and  at  nightfall  Poor  and  I  returned  to  our 
quarters  on  shore.  This  state  of  expectation  was  kept 
up,  and  finally  the  Merrimac  did  poke  her  nose  out, 
when  we  all  got  under  way  and  stood  up  towards  her ; 
but  she  found  it  prudent  not  to  venture  out  too  far. 
The  Dacotah  had  a  sharp  encounter  with  the  Sewall's 
Point  battery.  I  do  not  know  whether  we  hurt  any 
body  there.  I  do  know  that  they  did  not  hurt  us. 

This  state  of  things  existed  for  some  time  longer. 
The  toils  were,  however,  gradually  gathering  around 
the  fated  Merrimac.  The  situation  was  such  that  she 
could  not  expect  to  hold  out  much  longer.  Norfolk 
either  had  fallen  into  our  hands  or  was  soon  to  do  so, 
and  it  seemed  that  there  was  no  place  of  refuge  where 
she  could  feel  secure,  or  avoid  the  danger  of  capture. 
She  came  down,  however,  one  evening  towards  dark, 
and  anchored  about  nightfall.  It  happened  that  we 
were  the  picket -boat  for  the  night,  and  were  conse 
quently  considerably  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the  fleet. 
I  was  called  at  midnight,  and  it  was  reported  to  me  that 
the  Merrimac  was  on  fire.  I  went  immediately  on  deck, 
and  there  she  was,  all  in  flames.  The  Confederates  had 
decided  to  abandon  her,  and,  to  prevent  our  getting  pos 
session,  they  wisely  set  her  on  fire.  It  was  a  beautiful 
sight  to  us  in  more  senses  than  one.  She  had  been  a 
thorn  in  our  side  for  a  long  time,  and  we  were  glad  to 
have  her  well  out  of  the  way.  I  remained  on  deck  for 
the  rest  of  the  night  watching  her  burning.  Gradually 
the  casemate  grew  hotter  and  hotter,  until  finally  it 
became  red-hot,  so  that  we  could  distinctly  mark  its 
outlines,  and  remained  in  this  condition  for  fully  half 
an  hour,  when,  with  a  tremendous  explosion,  the  Mer- 

182 


GOLDSBOROUGH    IN    DISHABILLE 

rimac  went  into  the  air  and  was  seen  no  more.  Thus  I 
had  seen  in  a  brief  space  of  time  the  explosion  of  the 
magazines  of  two  large  ships  of  war,  an  event  so  rare 
that  to  see  one  at  all  seldom  comes  within  the  experience 
of  any  one. 

It  was  now  about  daylight,  or  rather  early  dawn,  for 
she  burned  from  the  first  discovering  of  the  fire  at  mid 
night  until  the  explosion  at  four  o'clock.  Captain 
McKinstry  then  ordered  me  to  have  a  boat  manned 
and  go  on  board  the  Flag -ship  myself,  and  report  in 
person  to  the  Flag-officer  what  I  had  seen.  When  I 
ran  alongside  the  Minnesota,  I  found  she  was  at  night, 
or  rather,  I  should  say,  early  morning,  quarters.  The 
Admiral  was  ranging  around  the  quarter-deck  in  a  long 
night-shirt,  which  reached  almost  to  his  feet.  Any  one 
who  knew  Admiral  Goldsborough  can  well  imagine  that 
he  appeared  to  me  like  the  ghost  of  some  departed  giant. 
He  was  surprised  to  see  me,  and  when  I  told  him  my 
story  he  exclaimed  in  the  most  tragic  manner,  "  Are 
you  certain  of  what  you  tell  me?"  To  this  I  replied: 
"As  certain  as  I  am  that  I  am  standing  here,  for  I 
watched  her  burn  for  four  long  hours,  and  I  know  that 
the  Merrimac  exists  no  longer."  "  Then,  sir,"  said  he, 
"return  on  board  and  tell  your  Captain  to  get  under 
way  and  go  up  to  Norfolk."  The  whole  scene  was 
weird  and  tragic,  and  I  shall  never  forget  it. 

There  is  an  amusing  incident  in  connection  Avith  the 
last  raid  of  the  Merrimac  that  occurs  to  me  as  I  write. 
Amongst  the  other  vessels  that  had  been  collected  to 
gether  to  destroy  her  was  the  Gunboat  Aroostook,  com 
manded  by  my  friend  Beaumont.  It  seems  that  nearly 
every  one  had  some  idea  of  his  own  how  he  was  to 
render  the  Merrimac  harmless.  I  remember  that  one 
idea  was  to  run  alongside  of  her  and  drop  a  shell  from 

183 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

the  yard-arm  down  her  smoke-stack,  the  explosion  of 
which  would  disable  her.  Beaumont  had  his  crew 
make  out  of  rattling-stuff  a  long  net,  or  rather  seine. 
His  idea  was  to  pay  this  out,  and  by  towing  it  across 
the  stern  of  the  ironclad  to  foul  her  propeller,  and  thus 
neutralize  her  motive  power.  So  when  we  were  all 
under  way  together,  but  not  in  any  special  formation, 
McKinstry  would  continually  be  calling  my  attention 
to  the  AroostooL  He  seemed  a  good  deal  more  afraid 
of  her  than  he  was  of  the  Merrimac.  "  Where  is  Beau 
mont  ?"  he  would  continually  say.  "  Keep  out  of  Beau 
mont's  way.  Don't  let  Beaumont  get  near  you.  Keep 
your  eye  on  the  Aroostook"  etc.,  so  apprehensive  was 
he  that  it  would  be  our  own  propeller  that  would  be 
fouled  rather  than  that  of  the  enemy. 

But  to  return  to  my  narrative.  I  conveyed,  as  I  was 
directed  to  do,  the  orders  of  the  Flag-officer  to  Captain 
McKinstry,  and  we  got  under  way  and  went  to  Norfolk, 
being  soon  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  fleet.  I  hap 
pened  to  have  some  business  on  board  the  Flag-ship  after 
she  reached  there,  and  while  on  board  the  Flag-officer 
said  to  me :  "  One  of  the  officers  of  the  Merrimac  is  here 
on  leave,  and  he  declares  emphatically  that  the  Merrimac 
has  not  been  destroyed."  I  replied  that  I  did  not  care 
what  he  said,  that  there  was  no  more  doubt  in  my  mind 
that  the  bones  of  the  Merrimac  were  now  at  the  bottom 
of  the  sea  than  that  I  was  living  at  the  moment.  He 
then  said :  "  Oh,  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  cor 
rectness  of  what  you  reported,  but  let  him  enjoy  his 
delusion." 

Soon  after  the  events  which  I  have  just  been  relating, 
the  Dacotah  was  ordered  to  New  Orleans  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  despatches  to  Farragut ;  she  was  considered 
about  the  fastest  vessel  of  the  Squadron,  and  was  se- 

184 


WITH  FARRAGUT  AT  NEW  ORLEANS 

lected  on  that  account.  We  were  not  long  in  making 
the  passage,  and  found  the  Admiral  with  his  Flag-ship, 
the  Hartford,  anchored  in  front  of  the  city ;  after  hav 
ing  made  his  gallant  dash  past  the  Mississippi  Forts,  he 
was  resting  for  a  while  on  his  oars,  making  up  his  mind 
where  the  most  effective  blow  should  next  be  struck. 
He  was  buoyant  in  spirits,  as  indeed  he  always  was ;  I 
do  not  think  I  ever  saw  him  depressed  about  anything, 
and  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  him  from  time  to  time  during 
my  long  service  in  the  Gulf  and  in  the  neighborhood  of 
New  Orleans.  I  think  Farragut  was  the  pluckiest  man 
I  ever  knew.  I  think  he  was  absolutely  insensible  to 
fear;  indeed,  that  feeling  did  not  enter  into  his  make 
up  as  a  man  at  all.  I  do  not  believe  that  he  could  ap 
preciate  the  meaning  of  the  word.  I  do  not  mean  that 
he  was  so  influenced  in  this  way  as  to  destroy  his  judg 
ment,  and  cause  him  to  take  unnecessary  risks,  for  he 
had  a  great  abundance  of  Naval  wisdom,  and  knew  well 
when  to  take  great  chances  to  accomplish  great  ends. 
He  was,  par  excellence,  the  man  for  the  times,  as  his 
glorious  deeds  have  abundantly  demonstrated. 

As  soon  as  Farragut's  despatches  were  ready,  we  left 
our  anchorage  in  the  Mississippi  and  returned  to  Hamp 
ton  Koads.  We  were  then  employed  for  a  while  in 
blowing  up  the  enemy's  works  on  the  James  Eiver  and 
destroying  their  guns.  The  destruction  of  the  guns  was 
generally  accomplished  by  placing  a  shell  in  the  muzzle, 
and  then  exploding  the  shell.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten 
this  method  was  attended  with  immediate  success.  But 
we  found  one  exceedingly  tough  thirty -two -pounder, 
which  resisted  every  effort  we  made  in  that  direction. 
We  tried  filling  it  nearly  if  not  quite  full  of  gunpowder, 
and  then  jamming  a  shot  in  the  muzzle  and  discharging 
the  gun,  but  without  any  result,  and  it  was  finally  dis- 

185 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

abled  only  by  placing  a  Dahlgren-rifled  howitzer  close 
up  to  the  trunnions  and  actually  shooting  them  away. 
The  Army  had  had  its  seven  days'  fights,  and  its  base 
was  now  at  Harrison's  Landing,  on  the  James.  Thither 
the  Dacotah  and  the  Gunboats  were  despatched  to  co 
operate  with  the  Army.  Another  Squadron  had  been 
formed  under  the  command  of  Admiral  Wilkes,  with 
the  Wachusett  as  his  Flag-ship.  Wilkes  had  not  been 
afloat  for  a  long  time,  but  he  was  an  able  man,  and  made 
an  excellent  Commander  -  in  -  Chief .  He  had  had  the 
reputation,  when  he  commanded  the  Exploring  Expedi 
tion,  of  being  a  martinet,  but  he  was  so  no  longer,  for  I 
cannot  conceive  that  any  Commander  -  in  -  Chief  could 
have  been  more  courteous  in  his  intercourse  with  those 
under  his  command  than  was  Wilkes. 

In  the  summer  of  1862  my  friend  Beaumont  fell  ill, 
and  I  was  ordered  to  command  the  Gunboat  Aroostook, 
thus  filling  the  vacancy  caused  by  his  detachment.  This 
was,  of  course,  a  most  agreeable  promotion  for  me.  It 
was  the  inauguration  of  command  as  a  Lieutenant,  and 
I  never  served  on  board  ship  in  a  lower  position  than 
that  of  Commanding  Officer  from  that  day  to  this.  I 
was  employed  in  my  new  command,  as  a  part  of  my 
duties,  in  running  between  Harrison's  Landing  and 
Fortress  Monroe.  The  Aroostook  became  familiar  along 
the  shore  of  the  James,  and  was  known  by  the  ne 
groes  as  the  "  Old  Rooster."  About  this  time  the  con 
trabands,  as  the  negroes  who  came  within  our  lines 
were  called,  began  to  flock  in  in  great  numbers.  They 
overflowed  from  the  Army  into  the  Navy,  besides  which 
we  would  sometimes  pick  them  up  along  the  shore  our 
selves,  in  running  up  and  down  the  James  River.  I 
came  upon  some  of  them  one  day,  and  asked  them  if 
they  were  not  afraid  of  being  shot  in  thus  attempting 

186 


AT    DINNER    ON    THE    AROOSTOOK 

to  make  their  escape,  when  one  of  them  replied,  and 
said,  "  No,  saah,  when  we  seed  de  Old  Rooster  coming 
along,  we  know'd  we  was  all  right."  I  asked  one  of 
these  same  fellows  one  day,  when  we  happened  to  be 
under  fire  for  a  little  while,  why  he  dodged  when  the 
balls  flew  over.  His  reply  was,  "  'Case  we  ain't  used 
to  it,  saah."  I  thought  his  reply  was  a  very  good  one, 
for  dodging  a  shot  as  it  passes  over  one's  head  is  an  in 
voluntary  act. 

Just  before  the  Army  reached  Harrison's  Landing  I 
had  received  a  couple  of  cases  of  champagne  from  New 
York,  which  I  knew  would  be  a  most  welcome  treat  to 
my  friends,  who  emerged  hungry  and  thirsty  from  the 
campaign  through  which  they  had  just  passed.  I  went 
to  the  front  with  my  cabin-boy  as  an  orderly.  He  was 
dressed  in  a  full  suit  of  white,  and  as  I  passed  General 
Newton's  headquarters  he  said  :  "  It  was  a  dangerous 
thing  for  you  to  bring  that  orderly  of  yours  up  here, 
for  nobody  has  any  clean  clothes  around  this  camp,  and 
somebody  will  take  a  fancy  to  them  and  take  them 
away  from  him."  I  went  to  the  headquarters  of  my 
brother,  General  Franklin,  and  there  I  found  "  Baldy  " 
Smith  and  General  Seth  Williams.  I  asked  them  to 
dine  with  me  the  next  day  on  board  the  Aroostook,  and 
told  them  of  what  I  had  just  received  from  New  York. 
There  was  no  hesitation  about  accepting  the  invitation, 
and  they  were  all  there  at  the  appointed  time.  I  do 
not  remember  what  we  had  to  eat,  but  I  have  a  distinct 
recollection  that  we  punished  champagne  enough  to 
make  us  all  very  comfortable.  The  weather  was  hot, 
so  I  had  the  dinner-table  set  under  the  wind-sail.  These 
were  not  punctilious  times,  so  we  took  our  coats  off,  and, 
with  the  assistance  of  a  cool  breeze  brought  down  by 
the  wind-sail,  managed  to  dine  in  great  comfort.  I  do 

187 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

not  think  I  ever  knew  men  to  enjoy  a  feast  more.  The 
contrast  between  this  and  the  rough  experience  through 
which  they  had  just  passed  made  this  little  episode  all  the 
more  pleasant.  They  returned  to  the  front,  feeling,  I  am 
quite  sure,  as  happy  as  if  they  had  dined  at  Delmonico's. 
Both  Armies  seemed  now  to  be  taking  a  rest.  Both 
seemed  to  require  some  recuperating  after  the  cam 
paign  in  the  swamps  of  the  Chickahominy.  For  several 
weeks  we  remained  at  Harrison's  Landing  on  our  oars. 
The  Gunboats  were  assembled  near  Jamestown  Island. 
Commander  Macomb,  commonly  called  Billy  Macomb, 
commanded  the  Genesee.  He  and  I  often  went  for  ex 
ercise  to  the  Island,  and  interested  ourselves  in  the  old 
graveyard,  which  was  in  a  bad  state  of  dilapidation. 
We  would  try  to  decipher  the  inscriptions  on  the  tomb 
stones,  many  of  which  were  so  broken  up  and  disfigured 
that  they  could  not  be  read  at  all.  One  day,  while  tak 
ing  our  accustomed  walk,  we  saw  the  Captain  of  a  trans 
port  schooner  breaking  off  a  piece  of  marble  from  one 
of  the  tombs.  Macomb  arrested  him  immediately  and 
sent  him  on  board  the  Genesee.  He  reported  at  once  to 
the  Admiral,  by  whom  he  was  directed  to  hold  him  a 
prisoner,  saying  that  he  would  have  him  tried  for  dese 
crating  the  graves  of  the  dead.  Macomb  held  the  pris 
oner  for  a  few  days,  when  the  latter  said  to  him  one 
morning  when  the  men  were  holystoning  the  decks, 
"  Captain,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  a  very  hard  case  that 
you  are  holding  me  for  the  same  offence  that  your  crew 
are  committing  before  your  eyes.  You  will  observe," 
he  said,  "  that  they  are  holystoning  the  decks  of  your 
vessel  with  pieces  of  marble  obtained  in  the  Jamestown 
graveyard."  Macomb  told  me  that  it  was,  alas,  too  true. 
It  is  useless  to  say  that  the  prisoner  was  released  from 
custody  and  returned  to  his  schooner. 

188 


LEFT    IN    WASHINGTON 

I  served  with  the  Army  a  short  time  longer.  Its 
movements  are,  of  course,  a  matter  of  history.  I  was 
ordered  out  of  the  James  and  up  the  Potomac  to  Wash 
ington.  Some  movements  were  taking  place  that  it  was 
thought  would  require  the  presence  of  the  Gunboats 
there.  Finding,  after  I  anchored,  that  there  was  no 
prospect  of  my  presence  on  board  being  required  during 
the  night,  I  went  on  shore.  The  Aroostook  was  anchored 
off  the  Arsenal.  When  I  went  down  in  the  morning  to 
go  on  board,  I  found,  to  my  horror,  that  she  was  not 
there.  I  immediately  communicated  my  dilemma  to 
Colonel  Ramsay,  of  the  Ordnance,  who  was  in  charge  of 
the  Arsenal.  He  informed  me  that  an  officer  had  ap 
peared  there  during  the  night  with  orders  for  the  Gun 
boats  to  proceed  immediately  to  Aquia  Creek.  There 
was  nothing  for  the  Executive  Officer  to  do,  in  my  ab 
sence,  but  obey  the  order,  which  he  did.  Colonel  Ram 
say  at  once  relieved  my  mind  by  telling  me  that  a 
steamer  with  ordnance  stores  would  start  for  Aquia 
Creek  in  an  hour  or  two,  and  that  if  I  would  come  in 
and  quietly  breakfast  with  him  he  would  promise  that  I 
should  soon  be  restored  to  my  command.  I  Avas  im 
mensely  relieved,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  I  enjoyed 
my  breakfast  much  more  than  I  should  have  done  if  this 
lucky  chance  to  get  to  Aquia  Creek  had  not  turned  up. 
I  remained  at  the  latter  place  until  the  Army  people 
left,  and  then  went  back  to  Washington. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

With  Farragut  in  the  Gulf— A  Year  of  Blockade— Fleet  Captain  at 
New  Orleans— Mobile— A  Night  Adventure— A  Council  of  War 
— Entry  into  Mobile — Return  to  the  North. 

THE  Aroostook  had  been  so  constantly  under  steam 
that  her  boilers  required  thorough  overhauling.  I  was 
directed  to  proceed  to  the  Navy -Yard  and  place  her  in 
the  hands  of  the  authorities  there,  in  order  to  have  this 
necessary  work  attended  to  as  soon  as  possible.  I  had 
a  slight  attack  of  James-River  fever,  and  was  glad  to 
have  the  rest  which  this  forced  idleness  gave  me  the  op 
portunity  of  enjoying.  While  the  workmen  were  em 
ployed  upon  the  Aroostook  I  lived  with  some  of  my 
friends  in  the  City,  and  found  this  little  relaxation  after 
my  close  confinement  on  board  ship  exceedingly  agree 
able.  The  repairs  were  soon  completed,  and  I  was 
ordered  to  proceed  with  the  Aroostook  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  report  for  duty  to  Admiral  Farragut.  I 
accordingly  sailed  for  that  station,  and  found  the  Admiral 
with  the  Hartford,  his  Flag-ship,  in  the  harbor  of  Pensa- 
cola.  She  was  then  commanded  by  Commodore  Palmer. 
The  Navy- Yard  was  again  in  our  possession ;  officers 
had  been  ordered  to  it,  and  there  was  an  organization,  as 
far  as  it  went.  There  were  no  quarters  for  those  sta 
tioned  there  other  than  the  kitchens  of  the  houses, 
which  was  all  that  was  left  of  them.  The  Yard  had 
been  almost  completely  destroyed.  These  kitchens  were 
made  habitable,  but  that  was  all ;  it  can  hardly  be  said 

190 


BLOCKADING    SERVICE 

that  they  were  comfortable.  The  Yard,  however,  still 
served  some  good  purpose.  It  was  the  coaling  station 
for  the  blockading  fleet  off  Mobile ;  slight  tinkering 
could  be  done  to  our  lame  ducks  when  they  came  in 
after  a  long  tour  of  duty  on  the  blockade.  One  of  the 
Medical  officers  stationed  there  at  this  time  was  Dr. 
Tryon,  the  present  Surgeon-General.  He  was  always 
bright  and  cheery,  and  I  remember  well  how  much 
pleasure  it  always  gave  me  to  meet  him  when  I  would 
be  passing  a  few  days  there  while  the  Aroostook  was 
coaling. 

I  remained  but  a  few  days  at  Pensacola  after  my 
arrival  from  the  North,  being  ordered  by  the  Admiral 
to  report  to  the  senior  officer  off  Mobile  for  duty  on  the 
blockade  of  that  port.  I  remained  on  that  duty  from  the 
autumn  of  1862  until  the  autumn  of  the  following  year. 
It  was  very  trying  work,  as  all  blockading  service  is. 
We  had  a  little  let-up  about  every  six  weeks,  when  we 
would  have  to  go  to  Pensacola  to  fill  up  with  coal. 
During  the  few  nights  we  were  there  we  could  sleep 
with  both  eyes  closed.  On  the  blockade  we  slept  with 
one  eye  open.  During  my  year  of  service  off  Mobile  we 
had  several  different  commanding  officers.  The  one  I 
remember  with  most  pleasure  was  John  R.  Goldsborough, 
who  commanded  the  Colorado.  He  was  a  kindly,  genial 
fellow,  and  we  all  grew  very  fond  of  him.  Every  fine 
day  he  would  make  signal  to  us  to  anchor  near  him. 
We  would  spend  the  day  on  board  the  Colorado,  dine 
with  him,  and  just  before  nightfall  each  one  would 
proceed  to  the  station  to  which  he  had  been  assigned  for 
the  night. 

The  station  which  required  the  sharpest  lookout  was 
in  the  channel  leading  into  Mobile  Bay.  There  was  no 
light  shown,  of  course,  and  we  were  obliged  to  feel  our 

191 


MEMORIES    OF    A   REAR-ADMIRAL 

way  in  after  dark  by  the  lead.  To  be  on  our  station  it 
was  necessary  to  be  within  range  of  the  guns  at  Fort 
Morgan,  and  before  daylight  we  would  stand  out  into 
the  offing.  Each  of  us  would  have  this  station  for  a 
week.  It  was  our  duty,  in  case  anything  attempted  to 
run  the  blockade,  to  throw  a  rocket  in  the  direction  the 
vessel  was  going,  and  make  such  signals  as  had  been 
agreed  upon.  It  was  an  inglorious  sort  of  station,  for 
in  case  of  parting  our  cable,  should  a  heavy  blow  sud 
denly  come  up  before  we  could  get  off  shore  with  our 
small  steam-power,  there  was  danger  of  drifting  down 
upon  Fort  Morgan,  in  which  case  we  should  have  fallen 
an  easy  prey  to  the  enemy.  The  blockade  was  fairly 
well  sustained,  but  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  make  any 
blockade  entirely  effectual.  It  was  dangerous,  however, 
to  attempt  to  get  in  or  out,  and  a  good  many  ships  were 
captured  during  the  year  that  I  served  off  Mobile.  I 
succeeded  in  capturing  a  schooner  loaded  with  cotton, 
which  made  a  fairly  good  prize.  I  was  there  when  the 
Confederate  steamer  Oreto,  afterwards  called  the  Flori 
da,  succeeded  in  running  the  blockade.  It  was  known 
that  she  had  left  her  anchorage  off  the  City,  and  was  all 
ready  to  make  a  dash  should  the  conditions  be  favor 
able.  The  night  was  dark  when  she  made  the  effort, 
but  it  suddenly  cleared.  The  wind  came  out  fresh  from 
northwest,  and  this  was  her  chance.  She  ran  past  the 
fleet  unharmed,  and  was  immediatley  followed  by  the 
Oneida  and  the  It.  R.  Cuyler,  the  fastest  ships  of  the 
fleet,  and  the  only  ones  that  had  the  slightest  chance  of 
catching  her.  A  stern  chase  is  a  long  one,  and  they  fol 
lowed  her  for  several  hundred  miles,  but  she  had  more 
speed  than  they,  or  in  some  way  eluded  them,  for  she 
finally  ran  out  of  sight.  It  was,  of  course,  a  great  disap 
pointment  to  all  of  us  that  she  was  not  captured  and 

192 


ASSIST    COMMODORE    BELL 

brought  back,  for  she  had  succeeded  in  running  in  some 
time  before,  eluding  every  effort  that  was  then  made  to 
stop  her.  Now  she  was  again  at  large,  ready  to  com 
mit  depredations  upon  our  defenceless  merchant-men. 

Soon  after  the  events  I  have  just  related  I  was  pro 
moted  to  a  higher  command.  The  Captain  of  the  Onei- 
da  went  North,  and  I  was  ordered  to  take  his  place. 
She  was  a  fast  craft  for  those  days,  and  I  had  great 
hopes  of  being  able  to  do  something  with  her,  but,  as 
she  was  of  a  rating  which  belonged  to  the  next  higher 
rank,  I  could  not  expect  to  retain  her  long.  I  think  Le 
Roy  was  sent  down  to  take  command  of  her,  and,  as  my 
vacancy  on  board  the  Aroostook  had  been  filled,  I  was, 
so  to  speak,  on  the  beach.  I  went  to  New  Orleans  and 
reported  to  Commodore  Bell,  who  was  Commander-in- 
Chief,  Farragut  having  gone  North  after  the  fall  of 
Yicksburg  and  Port  Hudson.  Bell's  flag  was  flying  on 
board  the  Pensacola,  where  he  transacted  his  business, 
but  he  lived  on  shore,  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Mercer,  a 
well-known  man  of  New  Orleans,  who  was  very  glad 
to  have  us  take  care  of  his  house  for  him  during  these 
troublous  times.  When  I  went  to  report  to  the  Com 
modore  I  found  him  sitting  behind  a  pile  of  papers 
which  had  accumulated  so  upon  his  hands  that  he  was 
almost  entirely  concealed  behind  them.  He  was  very 
much  overworked,  and  seemed  to  be  depending  entirely 
upon  his  own  personal  exertions  to  conduct  the  business 
of  the  Squadron,  which  consisted  at  this  time  of  a  great 
many  vessels,  large  and  small.  He  appointed  me  Fleet 
Captain  and  Chief  of  Staff.  This  was  early  in  Septem 
ber,  1863.  I  went  to  work  at  once,  and  in  a  short  time 
the  great  mass  of  matter  which  had  accumulated  disap 
peared,  and  the  Commodore  was  immensely  relieved. 
He  told  me  afterwards  that  if  I  had  not  come  to  his 
N  193 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

rescue  at  that  time  that  he  would  have  been  in  his 
grave.  I  remained  with  Bell  in  this  capacity  until  Far- 
ragut  came  down  to  resume  command,  when  he  brought 
with  him,  as  Chief  of  Staff,  Captain  Percival  Drayton, 
which  relieved  me  of  my  duties  as  Fleet  Captain.  Bell 
went  North,  and  Commodore  Palmer  was  placed  in 
command  at  New  Orleans,  while  Farragut  went  afloat. 
I  was  assigned  to  duty  as  the  Assistant  to  Commodore 
Palmer  in  New  Orleans.  During  my  stay  there  Ad 
miral  Porter  came  down  the  river  in  his  Flag-ship,  the 
Black  Hawk.  She  was  the  greatest  curiosity  as  a  man- 
of-war  that  I  have  ever  seen.  The  Admiral  had  a  lot 
of  saddle-horses  on  board,  and  every  day  after  dinner 
when  the  steamer  was  at  the  wharf  he  and  his  guests 
would  start  out  for  a  ride.  I  had  the  honor  of  dining 
with  him  one  day,  and  after  dinner  we  mounted  our 
horses  on  the  forecastle  and  sallied  forth,  crossing  the 
gang-plank  to  the  wharf  on  horseback.  For  any  one  of 
the  party  who  did  not  care  to  ride,  there  was  a  buggy 
for  a  drive.  It  was  a  very  curious  spectacle ;  it  is  un 
likely  that  one  of  a  similar  nature  will  ever  be  witnessed 
again,  and  probably  it  never  had  been  seen  before,  ex 
cept  from  this  particular  Flag-ship.  This  unique  cav 
alcade  passed  through  the  City,  went  some  distance 
beyond  its  limits,  and  then  returned,  recrossed  the  gang 
plank,  dismounted  on  the  forecastle,  and  the  entertain 
ment  was  at  an  end. 

About  the  month  of  August,  1864,  was  the  time  Far 
ragut  had  fixed  upon  for  his  attack  on  Mobile.  He  was 
only  waiting  for  a  favorable  day  to  run  by  the  Forts. 
I  think  it  was  on  the  fifth  of  that  month  that  he  accom 
plished  this  memorable  feat.  He  had  directed  that  all 
hands  should  be  called  at  daylight,  and  at  the  signal  the 
fleet  would  stand  into  the  Bay  in  column  of  vessels  by 

194 


COMMUNICATING    WITH    FARRAGUT 

pairs,  each  pair  lashed  together.  The  order  concluded : 
"  The  fleet  will  pipe  to  breakfast  inside  of  Mobile  Bay 
at  eight  o'clock."  It  always  seemed  to  me  that  there 
was  something  grand  in  this  concluding  paragraph  of 
his  order.  There  was  no  doubt  in  his  own  mind  of  his 
ability  to  carry  out  his  designs.  When  he  conceived  a 
plan,  it  was  already  an  accomplished  fact,  and  in  this 
he  resembled  Nelson  in  a  very  high  degree. 

The  morning  of  the  day  upon  which  the  fight  took 
place  I  was  directed  by  Commodore  Palmer  to  take  a 
despatch- vessel  and  pass  through  Mississippi  Sound,  go 
on  board  the  Sonoma,  a  Gunboat  stationed  at  a  point  in 
the  Sound  where  she  could  see  into  Mobile  Bay,  and 
make  an  effort  to  communicate  by  signal  with  Farrar 
gut,  in  case  he  had  succeeded  in  getting  inside  that  day. 
When  I  reached  the  Sonoma  I  found  that  it  was  impos 
sible  to  communicate  with  the  Admiral  by  signal,  al 
though  the  fleet  was  already  inside.  It  then  occurred 
to  me  that  I  might  possibly  succeed  in  communicating 
in  person  with  Farragut,  although  such  an  attempt  was 
not  thought  to  be  feasible,  nor  was  it  contemplated 
by  my  orders.  It  would  be  necessary  to  run  through 
Grant's  Pass,  which  connected  Mississippi  Sound  with 
Mobile  Bay,  and  to  run  close  to  Fort  Powell,  which 
guarded  the  pass.  Fort  Gaines  was  on  the  other  side, 
but  some  distance  off,  and  as  the  night  was  dark  I 
thought  with  a  small  boat  with  muffled  oars  we  might 
manage  to  steal  by  without  being  discovered,  commu 
nicate  with  the  Admiral,  and  pass  the  Fort  again  before 
daylight.  I  accordingly  proposed  the  plan  to  Captain 
De  Kraft,  the  Commanding  Officer  of  the  Sonoma,  who 
agreed  to  furnish  the  boat,  and  said  he  would  accom 
pany  me.  I  must  confess  I  considered  the  chances  of 
getting  to  the  Flag  -  ship  in  the  Bay  and  back  to  the 

195 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Sonoma  before  daylight  without  being  captured  en  route, 
to  say  the  least,  doubtful.  I  thought  the  enemy  would 
be  evacuating  Fort  Gaines,  in  which  case  we  should  be 
just  in  the  track  of  their  boats  on  their  way  to  Mobile, 
as  there  was  no  other  way  for  them  to  get  there ;  for 
now  that  the  fleet  was  in  the  Bay,  Fort  Gaines  was  no 
longer  tenable. 

We  waited  until  it  was  pitch-dark ;  then,  with  a  small 
boat  with  muffled  oars  and  a  pilot,  we  started  on  our 
somewhat  hazardous  expedition.  Fortunately,  it  was 
a  still,  dark  night,  and  there  was  nothing  to  retard  our 
progress.  "We  pulled  slowly  and  steadily,  and  in  about 
two  hours  we  found  ourselves  alongside  the  Hartford. 
I  went  on.  board  and  was  met  at  the  gangway  by  Dray- 
ton,  who,  as  I  said  before,  was  Farragut's  Chief  of  Staff. 
He  was,  of  course,  very  much  surprised  to  see  me,  and 
at  once  asked  me  where  I  came  from ;  and  when  I  re 
plied  that  I  had  come  in  one  of  the  Sonoma? s  boats 
through  Grant's  Pass,  he  exclaimed :  "  Well,  that  is  the 
best  thing  that  has  been  done  yet — communication  is 
already  open  ";  and  then  he  conducted  me  to  the  Ad 
miral.  Farragut  was  delighted  to  see  me.  He  placed 
his  two  hands  on  my  shoulders  and  began  at  once  to 
relate  to  me  the  incidents  of  the  fight.  He  was  in  the 
best  of  spirits,  as  he  always  was,  and  now  he  had  an 
especial  reason  for  being  so,  for  he  had  made  a  gallant 
dash  and  achieved  a  brilliant  victory.  I  then  had  a  con 
versation  with  Kimberly,  the  present  able  and  gallant 
Admiral,  who  was  the  Executive  Officer  of  the  Hart 
ford.  He  pointed  out  to  me  the  dead  and  the  dying, 
who  were  lying  about  the  decks,  the  former  sewed  up 
in  their  hammocks,  all  ready,  poor  fellows,  to  be  launch 
ed  into  the  sea.  Kimberly  told  me  that  they  had  lost 
heavily,  and  it  was  only  necessary  to  look  around  the 

196 


EVACUATION    OF    FORT    POWELL 

decks  to  be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  his  statement.  It 
was  about  midnight  when  I  reached  the  Hwriford, 
where  I  remained  nearly  an  hour,  a  time  of  mingled 
feelings  of  joy  and  sadness.  The  melancholy  spectacle 
of  those  poor  fellows,  as  I  saw  them  stretched  out  in 
death,  haunts  me  still ;  but  it  was  war,  and  at  such  a 
time  one  must  accustom  himself  to  such  scenes.  I  re 
member  that  in  the  early  part  of  our  civil  strife  I  went 
through  the  wards  of  the  Hospital  at  Norfolk,  which 
was  filled  with  wounded  men,  and  although  it  was  an 
unpleasant  task,  I  did  it  for  the  sole  purpose  of  famil 
iarizing  myself  with  the  horrors  of  war. 

After  having  received  the  Admiral's  instructions  for 
Commodore  Palmer,  I  started  back.  It  was  then  about 
one  o'clock.  There  was  plenty  of  time  to  pass  Fort 
Powell  before  daylight,  so  we  pulled  slowly  and  quietly 
along,  and  had  reached  the  most  critical  point,  which  was 
just  abreast  the  Fort,  when  there  was  a  brilliant  flash 
and  a  tremendous  explosion,  and  Fort  Powell  had  gone 
up  into  the  air.  The  enemy  had  evacuated,  and,  in 
leaving,  had  destroyed  their  little  stronghold,  which  had 
withstood  the  smashing  fire  of  our  ships  in  the  fight 
of  the  day  before.  I  continued  on,  and  in  due  time 
reached  the  Sonoma.  I  immediately  started  for  New 
Orleans,  and  arrived  there  in  time  to  make  the  first 
report  of  the  occurrences  in  Mobile  Bay,  and  of  the 
destruction  of  Fort  Powell.  Commodore  Palmer  sent 
me  at  once  to  General  Canby,  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  Army  of  the  Gulf,  to  whom  I  gave  a  detailed  ac 
count  of  all  I  had  seen. 

Fort  Morgan  did  not  hold  out  much  longer.  It  was 
entirely  cut  off  from  the  Confederacy,  and  was  soon 
compelled  to  surrender  to  the  Army.  Its  brave  Com 
mander,  General  Page,  had  charges  brought  against  him 

197 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

of  violating  the  rules  of  war  by  destroying  property 
which  must  inevitably  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
United  States  when  he  surrendered,  which  it  was  sure 
he  would  be  obliged  to  do  in  a  very  short  time.  It 
seems  that  when  the  Colonel  to  whom  he  surrendered 
looked  around  and  saw  the  destruction,  he  said  to  Gen 
eral  Page  something  which  was  very  offensive,  and  need 
not  be  repeated  here.  Page  was  taken  to  New  Orleans 
and  held  there  as  a  prisoner  of  war  for  some  time.  Com 
modore  Palmer  had  been  an  old  friend  of  his,  and  had 
it  in  his  power  to  render  his  captivity  lighter  than  it 
otherwise  might  have  been.  He  was  enabled  to  walk 
about  the  City  through  Palmer's  good  offices,  and  was 
made  comparatively  comfortable.  I  had  it  in  my  power, 
also,  to  show  him  some  kindness,  which  he  always  re 
membered  and  appreciated.  These  charges  about  the 
destruction  at  Fort  Morgan,  it  was  thought,  ought  to 
be  investigated.  General  Canby  therefore  ordered  what 
he  called  a  Council  of  War,  consisting  of  General  Hurl- 
but  and  General  Totten,  on  the  part  of  the  Army,  and 
I  was  appointed  the  member  on  the  part  of  the  JSTavy. 
Captain  De  Witt  Clinton  was  appointed  Judge  Advo 
cate.  It  was  ordered  that  General  Page  should  accom 
pany  us  to  Fort  Morgan,  and  that  the  investigation 
should  be  made  in  his  presence.  We  accordingly  took 
a  steamer  at  New  Orleans,  and  the  party  proceeded  to 
Fort  Morgan.  It  happened  that  the  officer  in  command 
of  the  Fort  was  the  same  one  who  had  been  so  offensive 
to  General  Page  at  the  time  of  the  surrender.  We  all 
stepped  up  to  the  officer,  who  met  us  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Fort,  and  shook  hands  with  him.  Page  remained 
quiet  with  his  hands  behind  his  back,  when  the  officer 
in  command  stepped  up  and  said,  "  How  do  you  do, 
General  Page?"  at  the  same  time  extending  his  hand 

198 


IN    COMMAND    OF    RAM    TENNESSEE 

to  shake  hands  with  him,  but  Page  did  not  move,  and 
remained  in  the  same  position,  with  his  hands  behind 
his  back,  whereupon  the  Colonel  said,  with  much  feel 
ing,  "  General  Page,  I  appreciate  that,  and  under  other 
circumstances  I  would  take  proper  notice  of  it."  But 
Page  was  immovable,  and  thus  the  incident  closed.  I 
thought  Page  was  right  then,  and  I  think  so  now.  The 
Council  of  War  held  its  sessions,  and  we  took  the  testi 
mony  that  was  within  its  reach,  which  was  sufficient 
to  satisfy  us  that  General  Page  had  not  violated  any 
of  the  rules  of  war,  and  he  was,  consequently,  acquitted 
of  the  charges.  In  looking  at  it  now,  and  as  I  saw  it 
then,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  idea  of  holding  the  enemy 
responsible  for  the  destruction  of  that  which  must  be 
considered  his  own  as  long  as  his  flag  is  floating  over 
it,  is  absurd.  It  might  as  well  be  said  that  a  belligerent 
has  not  the  right  to  run  his  ship  on  shore  and  set  fire 
to  her  when  he  sees  that  his  capture  seems  inevitable. 
"We  returned  to  New  Orleans  and  made  our  report, 
which  was  approved  by  General  Canby,  and  thus  the 
matter  ended.  General  Page's  friends  were  very  much 
gratified  at  the  result  of  the  investigation,  for  no  one 
that  knew  him  ever  for  a  moment  thought  that  he  had 
been  guilty  of  anything  that  was  not  honorable  in  mat 
ters  connected  with  the  surrender  of  Fort  Morgan  or 
anything  else. 

I  resumed  my  duties  at  headquarters,  and  for  a  while, 
in  addition  thereto,  commanded  the  captured  Earn  Ten 
nessee.  Farragut  went  North,  having  finished  his  life's 
work,  and  was  resting  on  his  well-earned  laurels.  Ad 
miral  Thatcher  was  sent  down  and  assumed  command  of 
the  Naval  forces  in  the  Gulf.  The  City  of  Mobile  was 
still  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  but  was  not  long  to  re 
main  so ;  the  Army  and  Navy  were  drawing  the  toils 

199 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

close  around  it.  We  broke  up  the  headquarters  at  New- 
Orleans,  and  Commodore  Palmer  and  I  joined  Thatcher 
in  Mobile  Bay.  The  City  was  protected  by  shoal  water, 
so  that  we  could  not  get  close  up  to  it.  There  was  a 
roundabout  way  of  approaching  within  range  by  a  nar 
row  river,  guarded  by  forts  and  torpedoes.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  clear  the  river  of  torpedoes  by  running  a 
sort  of  net  made  of  rattling  -  stuff  from  bank  to  bank. 
A  certain  distance  above  the  net  was  thoroughly  dragged 
by  our  boats.  When  that  area  of  the  river  was  pro 
nounced  clear  the  net  would  be  shifted  higher,  and  the 
same  process  again  pursued.  Thus  a  system  of  parallels 
was  run,  and  preparations  were  made  to  approach  tne 
City  by  the  river.  Captain  Crosby,  now  a  retired  Rear- 
Admiral,  conducted  this  work.  He  was  exceedingly 
zealous  in  the  performance  of  this  duty,  and  worked  at 
it  with  untiring  energy.  While  these  preparations  were 
going  on,  the  Confederate  commander  at  Mobile,  feeling 
that  the  capture  of  the  City  was  a  mere  matter  of  time 
— and  a  very  short  time — evacuated,  so  there  was  noth 
ing  for  us  to  do  but  to  take  possession. 

A  commission  was  appointed,  consisting  of  two  Army 
officers,  and  of  myself  on  the  part  of  the  Navy,  with  in 
structions  to  proceed  to  Mobile  and  receive  the  surrender 
of  the  City  at  the  hands  of  the  Civil  Authorities.  I  ac 
cordingly  went  on  shore  and  joined  my  colleagues  of  the 
Army  several  miles  outside  of  the  City.  Here  we  entered 
a  carriage  and  were  escorted  to  the  confines  of  Mobile 
by  a  regiment  of  infantry.  There  we  were  met  by  the 
Mayor  and  other  City  Authorities,  and  the  formalities 
of  delivering  up  the  City  to  us  were  carried  out.  It  re 
minded  me  somewhat  of  such  scenes  in  olden  times, 
when  the  heralds  would  blow  their  horns  and  demand 
that  the  keys  of  the  gates  of  the  City  should  be  delivered 

200 


LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  RICHARD  TAYLOR 

up  to  the  conquerors.  It  was  sad,  as  we  drove  through 
the  streets,  to  witness  the  depression  which  pervaded 
everything.  There  was  an  air  in  all  the  surroundings 
of  a  conquered  city  and  a  vanquished  people.  We  made 
it  as  little  humiliating  as  possible,  but  it  was  evident  that 
the  people  felt  the  situation  keenly,  for  they  realized  that 
the  cause  of  the  Confederacy  was  now  truly  a  lost  cause. 
After  the  fall  of  Mobile  I  returned  to  New  Orleans, 
and  during  the  rest  of  the  time  that  I  remained  in  South 
ern  waters  I  commanded  the  Portsmouth.  The  War 
was  now  drawing  towards  its  close,  and  I  gave  up  my 
command  and  went  North.  I  took  passage  in  one  of  the 
steamers  of  the  Cromwell  Line.  One  of  my  fellow-pas 
sengers  was  Lieutenant-General  Eichard  Taylor,  late  of 
the  Confederate  Army.  I  had  known  Taylor  before  the 
War.  Our  relations  had  always  been  of  the  most  cordial 
nature ;  and  although  we  had  been  for  several  years  past 
trying  to  cut  each  other's  throats,  yet  we  met  at  this  time 
on  the  same  friendly  terms  that  had  existed  between  us 
before  the  Civil  War.  He  was  one  of  the  most  charm 
ing  men  that  it  has  ever  been  my  good -fortune  to  en 
counter,  a  brilliant  talker,  an  excellent  raconteur,  never 
at  a  loss  to  illustrate  by  some  apt  quotation  or  suitable 
proverb  the  well-rounded  sentences  of  his  conversation. 
I  met  Taylor  again  some  years  afterwards ;  we  crossed 
the  Atlantic  together  in  1873.  I  found  him  then  the 
same  genial  gentleman  that  I  had  known  before.  He 
was  most  agreeable  and  entertaining,  as  he  always  was. 
He  had  an  appreciative  set  of  men  during  this  voyage  to 
enjoy  his  talk ;  amongst  others  were  Admiral  Case  and 
Frank  Corbin,  of  Paris,  the  latter  a  well-known  Ameri 
can  long  resident  in  France. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

A  Pacific  Command — Life  at  Mare  Island — An  Inland  Expedition — 
In  the  Yosemite  Valley — To  Esquimault  on  Cable  Service — Ad 
miral  Denman— Excursion  in  Washington  Territory — Up  Fraser 
River. 

I  WAS  allowed  to  remain  at  home  a  very  brief  period. 
My  friend  Wainwright  Scott,  who  had  commanded  the 
Sayinaw  in  the  Pacific,  died  very  suddenly,  and  I  was 
ordered  to  take  his  place.  I  took  passage  in  the 
McClelland  for  Aspinwall.  She  was  commanded  by 
Captain  Gray,  a  well-known  seaman,  who  had  made 
himself  very  useful  during  the  War  in  command  of 
United  States  transports.  The  voyage  was  uneventful, 
and  we  reached  our  port  in  the  usual  time.  There  was 
a  queer  character  on  board  who  had  a  peculiar  fad,  which 
was  to  represent  himself  as  that  which  he  was  not.  To 
me  he  was  a  Captain  Reed,  of  the  Marine  Corps ;  to 
another  he  was  Weston,  the  great  pedestrian ;  and  to  a 
lady  who  was  on  her  way  to  China,  he  was  Mr.  Seward, 
our  Consul-General  at  Hong-Kong.  He  offered  himself 
to  her  as  an  escort  to  her  destination.  When  Captain 
Gray  heard  of  his  pranks  he  sent  for  him,  gave  him  a 
piece  of  his  mind  in  very  strong  language,  and  threat 
ened  to  put  him  in  irons  if  he  did  not  desist  from  his 
efforts  to  delude  the  passengers  with  his  various  aliases. 
It  had  the  desired  effect,  and  he  was  seen  and  heard  of 
no  more. 

I  took  the  train  for  Panama  and  went  on  board  the 

202 


WITH    MR.   BOWMAN    AT    ACAPULCO 

Golden  City,  commanded  by  a  well-known  veteran  sea 
man,  Commodore  Watkins.  This  title  was  given  to  him 
as  the  Senior  Captain  of  the  line,  and  he  was  permitted 
to  fly  a  broad  pennant.  "Watkins  was  a  rare  old  sea-dog, 
very  popular  with  every  one.  People  were  obliged  to 
go  to  San  Francisco  in  those  days  by  steamer ;  it  was 
esteemed  an  especial  privilege  to  make  a  passage  with 
the  Commodore,  and  business-men  would  endeavor  so  to 
arrange  their  affairs  that  they  would  be  enabled  to  strike 
the  vessel  which  he  commanded.  The  Saginaw,  the 
vessel  to  which  I  had  been  ordered,  was  at  Acapulco, 
and  at  that  point  my  voyage  in  the  Golden  City  came  to 
an  end.  I  assumed  command  at  once,  but,  finding  that 
there  were  no  conveniences  for  messing  on  board,  I  was 
glad  to  accept  an  invitation  from  the  agent  of  the  Pacific 
Mail  S.  S.  Company — Mr.  Bowman — to  live  with  him 
during  my  stay  at  Acapulco.  He  was  a  most  agreeable 
fellow,  and  should  this  narrative  ever  meet  his  eye  I 
beg  that  he  will  accept  my  best  thanks  for  his  politeness 
to  me  at  that  time.  We  lived  delightfully,  and  I  shall 
never  forget  the  pleasing  sensations  which  I  experienced 
as  we  would  breakfast  and  dine  in  the  open  air  in  a  little 
embowered  nook  just  outside  of  the  house,  enjoying  all 
the  freedom  of  tropical  life  in  our  loose  summer  attire. 
The  harmless  little  green  lizards  would  sport  in  and  out 
amongst  the  green  leaves  of  the  bower  over  our  heads, 
scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  leaves  themselves.  It 
was  a  dolce  far  niente  sort  of  existence,  but  I  was  not 
permitted  long  to  enjoy  it.  I  received  orders  to  proceed 
with  the  Saginaw  to  San  Francisco.  An  economical 
order  had  just  been  issued  from  the  Navy  Department 
requiring  all  steamers,  without  regard  to  class  or  rig,  to 
proceed  when  at  sea  under  sail.  It  was  a  sort  of  iron 
clad  order,  and  since  it  was  impossible  to  get  anywhere 

203 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

in  the  Saginaw  under  sail  alone,  owing  to  her  peculiar 
rig  and  the  small  amount  of  canvas  that  she  could 
spread,  it  placed  the  commanding  officer  in  an  embar 
rassing  position.  He  must  either  drift  about  at  the 
mercy  of  the  wind  and  waves,  or  he  must  disobey  a 
positive  order.  However,  upon  consultation  with  Cap 
tain  Scott,  of  the  Saranac,  it  was  determined  that  I 
should  proceed  under  steam.  So  we  sailed  in  due  course 
of  time,  and,  to  use  the  language  of  the  sea,  bucked  up 
against  the  prevailing  southwest  winds  for  about  ten 
days,  at  the  end  of  that  time  anchoring  off  the  City  of 
San  Francisco. 

I  had  anchored  in  the  same  spot  twenty  years  before, 
when  the  village  which  then  existed  there  was  Yerba 
Buena,  and  California  was  a  province  of  Mexico.  Since 
then,  as  if  by  enchantment,  a  great  city  had  sprung  up 
on  this  very  spot,  which  at  that  time  was  but  little  more 
than  a  barren  sand-beach.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  a 
transformation  so  complete  in  so  brief  a  period.  As 
the  Saginaw  was  very  much  out  of  repair,  I  made  up  my 
mind  that  I  would  have  to  remain  a  long  time  at  Mare 
Island,  to  which  point  I  had  taken  her  in  order  to  have 
the  necessary  work  accomplished.  I  found  there  Cap 
tain  Davenport,  of  the  Lancaster,  whose  ship  was  in  the 
same  category.  He  was  messing  on  board  the  receiving- 
ship  Independence,  and  invited  me  to  join  his  mess, 
which  I  was  very  glad  to  do.  Captain  Parker,  who 
commanded  the  Independence,  was  also  one  of  the  mess, 
so  we  had  a  very  pleasant  partie  de  trois.  Existence  at 
Mare  Island  in  those  days,  like  that  at  most  Navy- 
Yards,  was  extremely  dull.  We  managed  to  amuse 
ourselves,  however,  with  the  small  circle  of  Navy  peo 
ple,  who  were  very  hospitable  and  kind  to  us,  and  we 
passed  most  of  our  evenings  at  the  house  of  one  or  the 

204 


LOUIS    McLANE    AT    SAN    FRANCISCO 

other  of  the  Officers'  families.  I  would  make  occasional 
visits  to  San  Francisco,  and  while  there  was  always  a 
guest  of  the  Union  Club.  It  was  the  time  when  Flood 
and  O'Brien  and  Barry  and  Patten  and  the  "  Poodle 
Dog"  held  sway  on  Montgomery  Street.  Many  a 
thirsty  soul  was  refreshed  at  these  famous  houses  of 
entertainment,  whose  owners  amassed  wealth  enough 
to  make  themselves  felt  in  the  world's  business  since 
those  days.  I  think  these  establishments  have  gone  out 
of  existence,  for  I  never  hear  of  them  now.  My  old 
friend  and  shipmate  Louis  McLane  was  living  at  San 
Francisco  at  this  time  as  agent  of  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co. 
He  had  resigned  from  the  Navy  some  years  before,  and 
was  one  of  the  few  of  the  Naval  and  military  men  who 
had  abandoned  their  profession  and  gone  into  business 
life  that  was  successful.  As  a  rule,  their  training  did 
not  fit  them  for  the  active,  pushing  methods  of  those 
times,  and  they  generally  ended  up  wiser  but  sadder 
men.  McLane  is  a  man  who  would  have  been  success 
ful  in  any  walk  of  life.  In  the  Navy  he  belonged  to 
the  highest  type  of  men  of  that  profession,  and  I  felt 
sure  when  he  left  it  that  he  would  attain  to  eminence  in 
any  thing  which  he  undertook.  I  hunted  him  up  when 
I  went  to  San  Francisco,  and  found  him  living  delight 
fully,  with  his  interesting  family,  in  one  of  San  Francis 
co's  most  comfortable  habitations.  He  was  getting  up 
an  expedition  to  the  Yalley  of  the  Yosemite,  and  in 
vited  a  number  of  guests,  including  me  amongst  them. 
I  was  very  glad  to  accept  his  kind  invitation,  and  ob 
tained  a  leave  of  absence  of  two  or  three  weeks,  which 
was  about  the  time  it  was  thought  would  be  occupied 
in  accomplishing  all  he  desired. 

In  the  party  were  about  a  dozen  persons,  including 
children,  all  apparently  in  good  condition,  full  of  spir- 

205 


MEMORIES  OF  A  BEAR- ADMIRAL 

its,  and  in  all  respects  well  equipped  for  the  journey. 
"We  went  by  steamer  as  far  as  Stockton,  and  then 
changed  our  mode  of  travel  to  a  large  four-horse  wagon, 
and  a  buggy  with  two  horses.  McLane  managed  the 
wagon  and  I  drove  the  buggy,  always  having  with  me 
one  of  the  party  as  a  companion.  As  about  thirty 
37ears  have  elapsed  since  that  time,  and  as  I  have  no 
notes  with  which  to  refresh  my  memory,  the  exact 
route  which  we  took  after  leaving  Stockton  rests  in  my 
mind  in  an  exceedingly  undefined  state.  I  do  remem 
ber,  however,  that  we  visited  en  route  the  Mariposa 
group  of  Big  Trees,  that  I  rode  on  horseback  through 
the  entire  length  of  the  trunk  of  one  of  them  which 
had  been  felled  and  hollowed  out,  and  that  we  saw  the 
stump  of  another  which  had  been  smoothed  down  and 
was  used  as  a  dancing-platform.  Its  extent  was  thirty- 
three  feet  in  diameter  and  one  hundred  feet  in  circum 
ference.  It  is  said  by  those  who  are  skilled  in  that  kind 
of  lore,  and  can  determine  the  age  of  a  tree  by  the  num 
ber  of  its  concentric  rings,  that  these  great  trees  first 
took  root  about  the  time  Our  Saviour  was  upon  the 
earth.  "We  went  to  a  place  called  Black's,  and  I  think 
it  was  there  that  we  left  our  teams  and  pursued  the 
rest  of  our  journey  on  horseback.  This  place  takes  its 
name  from  its  owner,  whose  special  peculiarity  was 
that  he  had  not  worn  a  hat  for  twelve  years.  We 
passed  the  night  at  Black's,  and  then  were  in  the  sad 
dle,  our  only  means  of  transportation,  for  several  days, 
and,  indeed,  until  we  returned  there  on  our  homeward 
journey. 

The  trip  was  a  very  wearisome  one,  and  when  we 
reached  Prospect  Point,  the  view  from  which  takes  in 
the  valley,  we  were  tired  enough.  This  magnificent 
scene  from  the  tops  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  has  been  so 

206 


A    WEEK    IN    THE    YOSEMITE 

often  described  by  travellers  that  I  will  not  attempt  to 
add  anything,  and  therefore  content  myself  by  saying 
that  I  do  not  believe  it  is  surpassed  by  anything  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  Our  descent  from  that  point  to  the 
valley,  about  four  thousand  feet  below,  was  slow  and 
tedious.  Our  horses  were  sure-footed,  and  conveyed  us 
in  safety  around  many  a  sharp  and  craggy  turn,  when 
a  slip  would  have  launched  us  into  the  abyss  hundreds 
of  feet  beneath.  We  finally  reached  in  safety  the  River 
Merced,  at  the  foot  of  the  valley,  on  the  banks  of  which 
stood  the  hotel  that  was  to  be  our  home  for  the  next 
seven  or  eight  days.  It  was  kept  by  a  man  named 
Hutchison.  A  most  primitive  place  it  was,  but  trav 
ellers  were  glad  to  find  a  habitation  in  which  to  lay 
their  heads,  where  they  could  be  sheltered  by  four 
walls  and  a  roof.  The  rooms  were  partitioned  off  by 
canvas,  boards  being  unattainable  there.  No  doubt  all 
is  now  changed.  One  week  in  the  valley  at  that  time 
was  an  unusually  long  stay.  While  we  were  there 
people  would  arrive,  flit  before  our  eyes  for  a  day,  and 
disappear.  Not  so  with  us.  We  went  for  a  week,  and 
a  week  remained.  Our  protracted  sojourn  gave  us  an 
opportunity  of  enjoying  this  charming  spot  at  our 
leisure.  We  visited  and  revisited  the  falls  and  other 
places  of  interest  at  leisure,  never  feeling  hurried. 
There  were  no  washerwomen  here  at  that  time.  The 
men  of  our  party  would  recline  on  the  banks  of  the 
Merced,  while  the  ladies  would  wade  into  the  river  and 
wash  their  clothes  in  its  cold  and  limpid  waters.  The 
Merced  River  is  the  outcome  of  the  melted  snow  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  and  as  it  flows  through  the  Yosemite 
Yalley  it  is  still  almost  ice-water,  so  short  a  distance 
has  it  traversed  since  it  was  changed  from  snow  to 
water.  McLane  and  I  used  frequently  to  bathe  in  it, 

207 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

much  to  the  horror  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  country, 
who  looked  upon  such  an  act  as  certain  death ;  but  we 
were  both  young  and  vigorous,  and  I  have  never  been 
able  to  discover  that  it  did  either  of  us  any  harm.  My 
pleasure  during  this  interesting  visit  to  the  Yosemite 
was  very  much  enhanced  by  the  presence  in  the  party 
of  Miss  Mary  McLane,  a  most  charming  member  of  her 
distinguished  family.  She  was  very  sympathetic,  and  I 
look  back  with  the  greatest  pleasure  to  the  many  happy 
hours  I  passed  in  her  society.  She  married  afterwards, 
and  I  never  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  her  since. 

Soon  after  my  return  to  the  Navy -Yard  at  Mare 
Island  the  Saginaw  was  detailed  by  the  Government  to 
assist  the  Company  that  was  about  to  lay  a  cable  across 
Behring  Strait  in  continuation  of  a  line  of  telegraph 
across  the  American  continent,  then  across  Siberia,  thus 
completing  telegraphic  communication  between  America 
and  Europe.  I  sailed  from  San  Francisco  in  the  summer 
of  1866,  accompanied  by  some  of  the  officers  of  the  Com 
pany.  In  due  course  of  time  the  Saginaw  anchored  in 
Esquimault  Harbor,  which  was  as  far  north  as  she  ever 
reached.  It  was  during  this  summer  that  the  Atlantic 
Cable,  after  a  long  silence,  began  to  talk  again.  It  was 
upon  the  supposition  that  it  had  ceased  for  ever  so  to  do 
that  the  Company  with  which  /was  serving  had  been 
formed,  but  now  it  was  discovered  that  this  long  and 
expensive  route  would  not  be  required,  for  the  old  line 
worked  continuously  and  satisfactorily.  The  whole  proj 
ect  was  therefore  abandoned. 

I  remained  in  Esquimault  for  several  months,  waiting 
for  instructions  from  somebody,  but  none  came  for  a 
long  time,  and  I  do  not  remember  exactly  how  I  did  get 
away  from  there ;  but  I  did,  finally,  sail  for  San  Fran 
cisco,  either  in  November  or  December.  The  harbor  of 

208 


THE    DENMANS    AT    ESQUIMAULT 

Esquimault  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world. 
The  heaviest  ships  lie  there  at  anchor  as  if  they  were 
lying  in  a  mill-pond,  so  smooth  is  the  water  at  all  times. 
The  swell  of  the  ocean  is  never  felt  there,  and  it  is  truly 
a  haven  of  rest.  The  whole  of  this  section  was  called 
at  that  time  British  Columbia.  There  was  another  Brit 
ish  Colony  on  the  Fraser  Eiver,  called  New  Westminster, 
which  had  a  Colonial  Government  separate  from  that 
of  British  Columbia,  of  which  Victoria  was  the  Capital. 
Victoria  is  situated  on  the  shores  of  a  small  Bay  not 
far  from  Esquimault,  but  its  harbor  is  suitable  only  for 
small  vessels.  This  little  City  had  rapidly  reached  the 
size  and  importance  that  I  found  it  possessed  when  I  was 
there.  It  was  the  point  of  departure  from  the  coast  for 
the  Caribou  mines,  and  its  progress  was  stimulated  by 
their  output,  but  when  they  decayed  Victoria  became  a 
dead  town,  and  remained  so  up  to  the  time  I  left,  in  the 
winter  of  1866. 

During  most  of  the  time  that  the  Saginaw  lay  at 
Esquimault,  Admiral  Denman,  with  his  Flag -ship,  the 
Suite),  was  there.  This  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me,  for 
I  became  very  intimate  with  the  Admiral  and  Mrs. 
Denman,  and  dined  with  them  frequently.  Their  house 
was  but  a  stone's-throw  from  the  ship,  which  was  anch 
ored  close  up  to  their  front  door.  The  Saginaw  was 
not  much  farther  off,  so  it  was  an  easy  matter  for  me  to 
get  back  and  forth  at  night.  At  most,  if  not  at  all,  the 
British  stations  a  house  is  provided  for  the  Admiral  by 
the  Government,  which  is  always  very  generous  towards 
its  high  officials,  both  civil  and  military.  I  became 
aware  at  this  time  of  a  custom  of  the  British  Navy 
which  I  had  never  known  before.  It  is  this :  When  a 
small  vessel  is  in  company  with  the  Flag-ship,  the  Ward 
room  mess  of  the  latter  make  the  Commanding  Officer 
o  209 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

of  the  former  an  honorary  member  of  the  mess.  This 
is  a  great  convenience  to  the  Captain  of  the  small  vessel, 
for  he  can,  while  in  port,  discontinue  his  solitary  and 
expensive  mess,  and  take  his  meals  in  the  Ward-room 
of  the  Flag-ship  with  more  comfort  and  with  greater 
economy.  The  mess  of  the  Sutlej  did  me  the  honor  to 
extend  this  courtesy  to  me,  but  I  never  availed  myself 
of  the  privilege.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the  Captain  of 
the  small  vessel  pays  his  mess-bill  in  the  Ward-room  of 
the  other.  Apropos  of  this,  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh, 
who  is  an  Admiral  in  the  British  Navy,  told  me  that  he 
was  once  an  honorary  member  of  a  Ward-room  mess, 
and  was  telling  a  fellow  -  Captain  of  its  advantages. 
Some  time  after,  this  Captain  was  going  out  in  some 
ship  to  take  command  of  a  vessel  on  a  foreign  station. 
He  of  course  lived  with  the  Captain  of  the  ship  in  which 
he  was  taking  passage,  but  desired  to  be  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Ward-room  mess.  When  he  made  his 
application,  the  reply  was  that  they  would  see  him 

d d  first.     The  Duke  thought  this  was  rather  a 

good  joke.  I  thought  so  myself.  I  will  mention  that 
at  the  time  the  Duke  told  me  this  story  he  was  an  hon 
orary  member  of  the  Ward-room  mess  of  his  own  Flag 
ship,  and  always  took  his  luncheon  there  when  he  felt 
disposed  so  to  do. 

The  Commanding  Officer  of  the  Suilej,  Denman's 
Flag-ship,  was  Captain  Coode,  and  the  Commander  was 
Sullivan,  who  was  the  Executive  Officer.  The  former  I 
have  never  heard  of  since.  The  latter  became  a  Flag- 
officer  in  the  Koyal  Navy.  There  was  a  small  vessel, 
a  sort  of  tender  to  the  Flag-ship,  lying  at  Esquimault  at 
this  time,  the  Sparrowhaivfc ;  her  Captain  was  Com 
mander  Porcher.  Porch  er  and  I  became  very  intimate. 
We  dined  together  nearly  every  day;  he  would  dine 

210 


TRIP    UP    THE    FRASER    RIVER 

with  me  one  day,  and  I  with  him  the  next,  which  I  think 
we  mutually  found  to  be  a  very  agreeable  arrangement. 
Esquimault  was  an  exceedingly  dull  place,  and  the  long 
period  of  time  during  which  I  was  detained  there  ren 
dered  life  very  monotonous.  My  intimacy  with  Porcher 
tended  in  a  large  degree  to  alleviate  the  situation.  We 
scoured  the  country  in  walks  which  we  took  daily,  re 
gardless  of  the  weather.  We  would  wrap  ourselves  up 
in  our  water-proofs,  for  it  was  now  the  rainy  season,  and 
paddle  through  the  woods  and  fields,  spinning  off  some 
times  eight  or  ten  miles  a  day.  We  would  return  to 
our  ships  as  dry  as  a  bone,  and  sit  down  to  our  tete-a- 
tete  dinner  with  excellent  appetites.  The  Admiral  sent 
Porcher  to  San  Francisco  from  time  to  time  for  the 
mails,  which  would  occupy  about  ten  days ;  I  missed 
him  on  such  occasions  very  much,  but  managed  to  get 
through  the  time  as  best  I  could. 

I  left  the  Saginaw  at  Esquimault,  and  went  with 
some  friends  into  Washington  Territory,  visiting  Port 
Townsend,  Seattle,  and  Steilecombe.  They  were  then 
insignificant  and  unimportant  places,  but  now  Seattle 
has  become  a  large  City,  and  the  United  States  has  a 
Navy- Yard  and  a  large  dry -dock  at  Port  Townsend. 
It  was  thought  at  the  time  that  the  present  State 
of  Washington  would  never  amount  to  much  as  an 
agricultural  country,  on  account  of  the  shallowness  of 
the  soil,  but  its  water  facilities  were  then,  as  they  are 
now,  grand,  and  its  shores  are  washed  by  a  beautiful 
inland  sea,  not  surpassed,  I  am  confident,  by  anything 
of  a  like  character  in  the  world. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Captain  Fleming,  an  Ameri 
can  who  owned  and  commanded  a  steamer  on  the  Fra- 
ser  River,  I  was  enabled  to  make  a  trip  up  that  beauti 
ful  stream.  The  scenery  was  grand  all  the  way  up  to 

211 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

New  Westminster,  the  Capital  of  the  British  Colony  of 
that  name.  Mount  Baker,  the  most  beautiful  cone  prob 
ably  in  all  the  world,  was  almost  constantly  in  sight, 
and  one  never  tired  of  gazing  on  its  snow-clad  peak 
thousands  of  feet  above.  At  New  "Westminster  I  met 
the  members  of  the  Colonial  Government,  all  gentle 
manlike  men,  whose  names  in  this  long  interval  of  time 
I  have  forgotten.  The  Fraser,  at  some  points  in  its 
course,  is  a  raging  torrent ;  it  seemed  to  me  almost  im 
possible  that  any  steamer  could  make  headway  against 
it.  The  one  in  which  I  was  embarked  was  a  high- 

o 

pressure  stern -wheel  boat.  Her  boilers  were  exposed 
to  view,  and  when  it  was  necessary  to  climb  up  one  of 
these  torrents  they  would  become  red-hot,  so  great  was 
the  necessity  to  "  fire  up  "  in  order  to  get  steam  enough 
to  keep  the  boat  going.  At  times  I  do  not  believe  she 
moved  over  the  bottom  more  than  a  knot  an  hour. 
Although  the  situation  seemed  rather  appalling  to  one 
not  accustomed  to  it,  I  believe  she  seldom  failed  to 
make  a  successful  trip.  From  New  Westminster  there 
is  a  beautiful  macadamized  road  through  the  mountains 
towards  the  Caribou  mines,  a  splendid  piece  of  engineer 
ing.  In  some  places  it  was  necessary  to  cut  into  an 
almost  vertical  mountain-side,  so  that  in  passing  over 
the  road  one  finds  himself  with  a  roof  of  rock  over  his 
head  and  a  yawning  precipice  hundreds  of  feet  below. 
I  took  a  drive  one  day  while  there,  and  frequently,  when 
we  came  to  one  of  these  ticklish  places,  there  would  be 
a  lot  of  Indians  with  packs  on  their  heads  strung  along 
the  road.  The  rascals  would  always  stand  in  a  row  on 
the  inside  track,  and  the  wonder  is  that  the  horses  did 
not  take  fright,  but  I  suppose  they  had  from  long  usage 
become  accustomed  to  it.  The  Indians  never  by  any 
chance  took  the  precipice  side  of  the  road,  determined, 

212 


SIR    JAMES    DOUGLAS 

I  presume,  that  if  anybody  was  to  be  dashed  into  the 
abyss  below  it  must  be  we,  not  they. 

The  Governor  of  British  Columbia  at  this  time  was 
a  very  gentlemanlike  Englishman  of  the  name  of  Ken 
nedy  ;  he  afterwards  became  Sir  Arthur  Kennedy,  and 
occupied  a  like  position  in  some  distant  Colony,  I  think 
Australia.  He  had  an  interesting  family,  consisting  of 
several  daughters,  one  of  whom  married  Lord  Guilford, 
who  commanded  one  of  Her  Majesty's  Ships  in  those 
seas.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  style  kept  up  in  this 
mimic  court,  and  dinners  and  receptions  and  garden- 
parties  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  The  society  was  a 
good  deal  like  that  of  a  garrison  at  an  Army  post ;  it 
was  small,  and  each  member  of  it,  naturally  enough  in 
such  a  community,  was  taken  up  with  the  affairs  of  his 
neighbor,  which  of  course  led  to  gossip  and  to  conver 
sation  of  a  kind  very  uninteresting  to  an  outsider  not 
especially  concerned  about  Colonial  social  affairs. 

Sir  James  Douglas  was  at  this  time  at  the  head  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  this  part  of  the  North 
west.  He  was  a  very  interesting  character — I  think  he 
had  worked  his  way  up  from  a  subordinate  place  until 
he  reached  the  highest  position  that  could  be  attained 
in  this  portion  of  the  Company's  domain.  Sir  James 
had  married  an  Indian  woman,  which  was  not  at  all  an 
uncommon  occurrence  with  the  employes  of  the  Com 
pany;  indeed,  it  was  encouraged,  in  order  that  they 
might  become  attached  to  the  soil  and  entirely  weaned 
from  the  ties  of  home  and  country.  Sir  James  had 
several  very  handsome  daughters,  with  scarcely  a  trait 
of  the  Indian  about  them  to  distinguish  them  from  women 
of  pure  white  blood.  I  was  told,  however,  that  in  the  next 
generation  the  grandchildren  partook  in  a  very  decided 
manner  of  the  characteristics  of  their  mother's  mother. 

213 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

California  Again — Promoted  Commander — Duck- shooting — In  Com 
mand  of  the  Mohican — To  Siberia  After  an  Eclipse — Difficult 
Navigation  — A  Bidarca  — In  Plover  Bay  — The  Eclipse  — The 
Tchuktches  of  Siberia. 

I  SAILED  from  Esquimault  for  San  Francisco  in  No 
vember  or  December,  1866.  The  passage  was  rough 
and  boisterous,  for  in  that  season  of  the  year  the  stretch 
of  the  Pacific  between  those  two  ports  is  subject  to 
violent  gales,  and  the  little  Saginaw  was  a  good  deal  be 
labored  before  she  reached  her  destination.  I  remem 
ber  one  night  when  it  was  blowing  a  heavy  southeast 
gale,  one  of  the  non-combatants  came  to  me  as  I  was 
wearing  ship  to  get  her  head  off  shore,  and  inquired, 
"  What's  up  ?"  I  replied  that  nothing  was  up,  but  I 
suspect  I  was  as  glad  as  he  was  when  the  gale  abated, 
for  I  never  considered  the  little  Saginaw  a  safe  craft  in 
a  very  heavy  gale,  although  somehow  she  managed  to 
keep  on  top  of  the  seas  that  were  sufficiently  high,  had 
we  been  caught  in  their  trough,  to  have  engulfed  us.  I 
was  glad  enough  to  anchor  in  San  Francisco.  I  pro 
ceeded  to  Mare  Island  the- folio  wing  day,  and  soon  after, 
having  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Commander,  I  was 
detached,  and  turned  over  the  command  to  my  successor, 
Lieutenant-Commander  Mitchell.  I  soon  after  relieved 
my  friend,  the  late  Kear- Admiral  Baldwin,  as  Inspector 
of  Ordnance  at  the  Navy -Yard.  During  the  time 
I  was  stationed  at  this  Yard  we  had  three  different 

214 


SPORT    IN    CALIFORNIA 

commanding  officers — Commodore  John  K.  Goldsbor- 
ough,  Commodore  Alden,  and  Hear- Admiral  Craven. 
Goldsborough  was  my  former  Commanding  Officer  off 
Mobile.  I  had  a  high  regard  for  him  then,  and  our 
pleasant  relations  continued  while  we  were  together  at 
Mare  Island.  Alden  was  a  pleasant  fellow,  but,  some 
how,  he  never  seemed  to  me  to  be  serious  about  any 
thing.  It  always  appeared  to  me  that  he  regarded  life 
and  all  there  was  in  it  as  an  immense  joke.  To  Admiral 
Craven  I  became  very  much  attached.  He  was  very 
fond  of  cards,  and  if  he  could  not  get  any  one  to  play 
with  him  he  would  play  solitaire  for  hours  at  a  time. 
He  had  a  charming  family ;  his  daughters  then,  with  the 
exception  of  Emily,  who  was  very  lovely,  were  little 
girls.  Mrs.  Craven  was  one  of  the  sweetest  women  I 
have  ever  known. 

California,  although  not  comparing  with  what  it  had 
been,  was  still  a  great  country  for  sportsmen ;  the  wa 
ters  were  teeming  with  wild  fowl  of  every  description. 
There  was  a  small  schooner,  the  Joe  Smith,  belonging 
to  the  Yard  which  we  would  stock  with  fresh  grub  and 
beer  and  go  off  in  for  a  week's  shooting.  The  Admiral 
generally  made  one  of  our  party,  and  no  one  enjoyed  it 
more  than  he.  We  would  go  up  the  Napa  Eiver,  and 
with  our  small  boats  scour  the  tules  (swamps),  and  also 
to  Suisun  Bay,  above  Benicia ;  at  the  end  of  these  little 
cruises  returning  laden  with  canvas  -  backs,  sprigtails, 
widgeon,  and  teal.  The  canvas -backs  we  shot  from 
blinds  made  with  the  high  spear-grass  of  the  tules ;  the 
teal,  from  behind  points  as  they  would  fly  swiftly  by, 
which  was  beautiful  sport.  In  the  ponds  we  would  find 
mallard,  in  the  marshes  yellow-legged  snipe,  and  on  the 
shores  of  San  Pablo  Bay  quantities  of  plover.  Indeed, 
so  abundant  was  game  at  this  time  in  the  vicinity  of 

215 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Mare  Island  that  the  ducks  would  venture  close  up  to 
the  houses.  I  remember  that  one  of  my  sporting  com 
panions  and  I  put  out  our  decoys  one  evening  at  a  point 
about  five  minutes'  walk  from  my  house.  We  made  an 
early  start  in  the  morning,  and  returned  to  a  nine-o'clock 
breakfast,  having  bagged  forty  -two  canvas  -backs  and 
other  ducks.  There  was  a  novel  method  of  duck-shoot 
ing  in  California  at  that  time,  which  I  have  never  seen 
in  any  other  country.  In  the  spring  of  the  year,  when 
the  tender  young  wheat  is  appearing  above  the  ground, 
just  about  dusk  the  ducks  swoop  down  in  flocks  of  thou 
sands  and  feed  upon  it.  The  sportsman  crouches  down 
in  the  field,  making  a  blind  for  himself  if  he  can ;  as  they 
rush  by,  flying  low,  he  has  a  beautiful  time. 

Between  my  duties  and  my  sporting,  time  went  on 
until,  in  the  latter  part  of  1868,  or  early  in  1869,  I  was 
ordered  to  the  command  of  the  Mohican,  a  Steam  Cor 
vette  of  full  sail  and  auxiliary  steam  power,  but  not, 
however,  very  good  at  either.  I  had  hardly  completed 
my  preparations  for  sea  when  I  received  an  order  to 
convey  to  Plover  Bay,  on  the  coast  of  Siberia,  some 
scientific  gentlemen  sent  there  by  the  Government  for 
the  purpose  of  observing  the  total  eclipse  of  the  sun. 
These  gentlemen  were  Professor  Hall,  the  discoverer  of 
the  satellites  of  Mars,  and  Mr.  Rodgers,  a  gentleman  of 
high  scientific  attainments,  who  was  an  employe  of  the 
Naval  Observatory  at  Washington.  I  found  them  both 
charming  gentlemen,  well  fitted,  I  thought,  for  the  re 
sponsible  work  for  which  they  had  been  selected.  I  do 
not  think  I  ever  knew  Mr.  Hall  to  frown.  His  face  was 
like  a  sunbeam,  and  as  he  walked  the  deck  I  often  ob 
served  a  smile  pass  over  his  face,  his  mind  probably 
holding  intercourse  with  the  heavenly  bodies,  with  which 
he  was  on  such  intimate  terms. 

216 


DIFFICULT    NAVIGATION 

I  sailed  from  San  Francisco  in  the  summer  of  1869, 
giving  myself  ample  time  to  reach  Plover  Bay  by  the 
7th  of  August,  the  day  upon  which  the  eclipse  was 
to  take  place.  Leaving  San  Francisco,  I  made  the  best 
of  my  way  towards  Nanimo,  a  port  of  Vancouver  Isl 
and,  where  I  filled  the  bunkers  with  coal,  and  toc£  a 
deck-load  besides,  and,  much  as  I  desired  to  economize 
fuel,  so  important  to  us  on  this  voyage,  I  must  confess 
I  was  not  sorry  when  the  deck-load  was  consumed.  I 
had  intended  to  touch  at  Sitka  to  replenish  my  fuel,  but 
when  I  emerged  from  the  water  which  makes  the  pas 
sage  between  Vancouver  Island  and  the  mainland,  there 
seemed  to  be  a  good  chance,  so  I  stretched  across  for 
Oonalaska,  where  I  expected  to  find  coal,  and  was  not 
disappointed. 

In  all  my  cruising  I  have  never  encountered  such 
difficult  navigation  as  that  which  confronts  the  seaman 
in  making  his  way  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  into  Beh- 
ring  Sea.  There  are  several  passes  between  the  Isl 
ands,  and,  like  the  Arkansas  Traveller,  if  the  naviga 
tor  takes  one,  he  will  wish  he  had  taken  the  other.  I 
made  the  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Akoutan  Pass,  and 
promptly  decided  to  try  it  there.  Everything  for  the 
moment  seemed  to  be  propitious,  the  weather  was  clear 
and  all  other  conditions  seemed  favorable.  I  thought 
then  I  had  a  fair  start  through,  but  suddenly,  as  fre 
quently  happens  in  those  latitudes,  the  fog  shut  down, 
and  I  was  obliged  to  reduce  from  full  speed  to  very  slow 
going.  There  seemed  to  be  no  prospect  of  the  fog  lift 
ing  during  the  night,  which  was  now  upon  us,  and,  sur 
rounded  as  we  were  by  islands,  with  a  strong  current 
which  might  at  any  moment  drift  us  upon  unseen  dan 
gers,  I  reluctantly  determined  to  anchor.  We  were  now 
well  in  the  Pass,  and,  although  in  one  hundred  fathoms' 

217 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

water  there  was  no  help  for  it,  I  was  obliged  to  let 
go  an  anchor,  and  for  the  moment  felt  secure.  There 
was  nothing  now  to  do  but  quietly  await  the  lifting  of 
the  fog.  The  nights  were  very  short  in  the  summer  in 
this  high  latitude,  and  I  hoped  at  early  daylight  to  be 
able  to  proceed  towards  ray  destination.  It  lighted  up 
a  little  during  the  night,  sufficiently  so  to  enable  a  small 
Kussian  boat  (a  bidarca)  to  come  alongside.  This  bi- 
darca  contains  two  hatches,  one  for  each  sitter,  a  water 
proof  is  secured  to  the  hatch,  so  that  the  sitter  in  get 
ting  into  his  seat  passes  through  this  water-proof  and 
draws  it  about  his  neck  as  if  he  were  getting  into  a  bag, 
so  that  no  water  can  get  into  the  boat  unless  it  passes 
down  his  neck,  and  if  he  draws  the  strings  tight  enough 
no  water  can  get  in  at  all.  When  the  occupants  are  in 
their  seats,  properly  adjusted,  the  canoe  (for  such  it 
really  is)  is  like  a  bottle  tightly  corked.  In  these  frail 
craft  the  Aleuts  and  those  who  trade  in  these  seas  trav 
erse  hundreds  of  miles  in  communicating  with  each 
other  amongst  the  Aleutian  Islands. 

The  one  in  question  was  occupied  by  a  Greek  Priest, 
who  was  visiting  his  parishioners  in  the  many  islands, 
and  by  an  American  Captain  whose  name,  I  think,  was 
Kedfield,  who  commanded  an  American  Brig  from  San 
Francisco  called  the  Amelia.  His  vessel  was  a  sort 
of  whaler  and  trader  in  whatever  he  found  profitable. 
They  were  very  much  astonished  to  find  the  Mohican 
anchored  in  the  middle  of  the  Pass.  The  Captain  in 
formed  me  that  I  was  lying  in  a  very  dangerous  place, 
and  advised  me  to  get  out  of  it  as  soon  as  I  could. 
This  suggestion  was  not  at  all  necessary,  for  I  had  de 
termined  to  do  so  as  soon  as  it  was  possible.  The  Priest 
who  accompanied  the  Captain,  I  must  confess,  elicited 
my  warmest  admiration.  He  had  left  his  wife  and  chil- 

218 


AT    OONALASKA 

dren  at  Oonalaska,  and  ventured  forth  in  this  frail  bark 
to  visit  his  parishioners  at  the  various  islands  amongst 
the  group.  It  was  an  exhibition  of  zeal  and  devotion  to 
his  Church  and  flock  which  I  thought  commendable  in 
a  very  high  degree.  As  soon  as  my  visitors  left  and 
the  fog  had  somewhat  lifted,  I  made  an  effort  to  heave 
up  the  anchor.  It  was  for  the  time,  however,  fruitless, 
for  the  tide  was  running  so  swiftly  from  Behring  Sea 
into  the  Pacific  Ocean  that  I  found  it  quite  impossible 
to  do  anything.  As  soon  as  the  tide  began  to  slack  I 
made  another  effort,  which  was  successful.  The  weath 
er  had  now  cleared  up,  and  I  lost  no  time,  with  all  the 
speed  of  which  the  Mohican  was  capable,  in  making  the 
best  of  my  way  to  Oonalaska,  where  I  came  to  anchor  in 
its  snug  harbor,  happy  to  feel  that  I  was  through  this 
Pass,  which  had  caused  me  so  much  trouble  and  anxiety. 
1  filled  up  with  coal,  and  gave  our  people  a  little  resting- 
spell  before  proceeding  farther  north. 

I  was  reminded  here  of  Campbell's  poem,  a  copy  of 
which  I  do  not  remember  to  have  had  with  me,  but  I 
happened  to  recall  one  line :  "  The  wolfs  long  howl 
from  Oonalaska's  shore,"  and  it  conveys  to  my  mind  the 
idea  of  the  desolation  which  one  feels  in  so  high  a  de 
gree  in  these  far-off  regions  of  the  North.  Oonalaska 
was  a  small  settlement  at  that  time,  a  sort  of  head 
quarters  for  the  Russian  Fur  Company.  Its  only  occu 
pants  were  those  connected  with  that  Company,  the 
Greek  Priest  and  his  family,  and  the  Aleuts.  Every 
thing  about  was  Russian.  There  was  a  Russian  bath, 
though  a  very  primitive  one.  Then  there  was  tea  made 
in  the  samovar,  and  served  in  glasses  instead  of  cups, 
seasoned  with  lemon  instead  of  sugar.  I  remember 
there  was  a  beautiful  clear  trout-stream  running  through 
the  village.  We  tried  to  catch  some  of  the  trout  with 

219 


MEMORIES    OF   A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

our  civilized  appliances,  but  were  not  successful,  while 
the  natives  would  make  a  hook  out  of  a  bent  pin  and 
take  them  without  any  trouble.  Having  filled  up  with 
coal  and  rested  our  people,  we  got  under  way  for  Plo 
ver  Bay.  We  passed  the  Pribyloff  Islands,  about  which 
we  hear  so  much  in  these  days,  for  they  are  the  islands 
which  the  great  herds  of  seals  occupy  concerning  which 
there  is  so  much  controversy  at  the  present  time  be 
tween  this  country  and  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  all 
other  nations  interested  in  the  question.  In  three  or 
four  days  we  sighted  the  high  land  near  Plover  Bay, 
and  soon  came  to  anchor  in  that  beautiful  harbor.  Plo 
ver  Bay  is  so  called  from  the  fact  that  a  British  explor- 
ing-vessel  called  the  Plover  was  once  frozen  in  here,  and 
remained  during  the  whole  of  a  long  Arctic  winter. 

We  made  ourselves  snug,  and  I  immediately  sent  the 
astronomers  on  shore,  accompanied  by  the  carpenter 
and  his  gang.  An  observatory  was  soon  constructed, 
and  there  was  nothing  now  to  do  but  await  patiently 
the  7th  of  August,  which  was  the  date  of  the  total 
eclipse.  Meanwhile  the  Navigator  was  employed  in 
making  a  survey  of  the  Bay,  and  the  officers  and  crew 
whiled  away  their  time  with  shooting-parties,  and  par 
ties  of  exploration,  and  such  amusements  as  offered 
themselves.  The  whole  surrounding  country  presented 
a  scene  of  utter  desolation.  Here  and  there  a  blade  of 
grass  or  a  small  wild-flower  might  be  seen,  but  the  soil, 
if  it  might  be  so  called,  was  so  thin  that  cultivation  was 
entirely  out  of  the  question.  The  whole  country  is  a 
desert,  and  the  possibility  of  being  caught  here  by  some 
accident  to  the  machinery  would  sometimes  dawn  upon 
me  and  make  me  for  the  moment  feel  very  uncomfort 
able.  Such  an  accident  would  probably  have  involved 
our  being  frozen  up  for  the  winter,  and  having  to  live 

220 


AN    ECLIPSE    AT    OONALASKA 

for  months  in  dismal  darkness.  For  such  a  contingency 
we  were  entirely  unprepared.  In  Oonalaska,  strange  to 
say,  two  of  our  crew  deserted.  Every  one  knows  that 
Jack  is  a  very  peculiar  character,  but  one  would  hardly 
suspect  him  of  taking  the  chances  of  bettering  his  con 
dition  by  deserting  in  these  desolate  regions ;  but  one 
accustomed,  after  long  association  with  him,  to  his  pecu 
liarities,  is  never  surprised  at  anything  he  does.  These 
two  deserters  made  their  way  to  an  island  not  far  dis 
tant  from  Oonalaska.  "When  I  satisfied  myself  that  they 
had  gone  there,  I  saw  that  there  was  no  escape  for 
them.  I  directed  the  Marine  officer  to  take  the  whole 
guard  and  deploy  as  skirmishers,  so  that  they  would 
stretch  from  one  end  of  the  island  to  the  other.  In  this 
way  they  advanced  across  the  island,  and  found  the  men 
on  the  opposite  shore,  quietly  washing  their  clothes. 
They  were  brought  on  board,  of  course,  and  thus  this 
effort  to  better  their  condition  was  suddenly  brought  to 
a  close. 

At  length  the  day  to  which  we  had  been  looking 
forward  with  so  much  interest  arrived.  The  sun  rose 
bright  and  clear,  and  there  was  not  a  cloud  to  be  seen. 
The  hopes  of  the  astronomers  and  of  all  of  us  ran  high. 
We  thought  there  could  now  be  no  doubt  but  that  our 
labors  would  be  crowned  with  entire  success.  About 
half  an  hour  before  the  time  for  the  observations  upon 
the  eclipse  the  heavens  became  speckled  over  with  a 
sort  of  mackerel  sky,  which,  although  not  sufficient  to 
obscure  the  sun  from  the  ordinary  observer,  interfered 
materially  with  the  fineness  and  exactness  which  the 
astronomers  had  hoped  for.  To  us  amateurs  it  was  a 
magnificent  spectacle,  for  we  could  distinctly  see  the 
corona,  or  flames  of  the  sun,  darting  away  from  the 
edge  of  his  disk  millions  of  miles  into  space.  My  rec- 

221 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

ollection  is  that  the  eclipse  occurred  about  eleven  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  that  the  day  became  so  dark  that 
the  sea-gulls  that  were  feeding  in  the  water  around  the 
stern  of  the  ship  put  their  heads  under  their  wings, 
thinking  night  was  upon  them,  and  went  fast  asleep. 
The  natives  were  awe -stricken  by  what  was  taking 
place,  and  manifested  by  the  expressions  of  their  faces 
that  something  supernatural  was  going  on.  At  all 
events,  it  was  something  far  beyond  their  simple  com 
prehension. 

The  object  of  this  expedition  was  now  accomplished, 
but,  before  bidding  adieu  to  Plover  Bay,  I  think  it  would 
be  well  to  say  a  few  words  about  the  inhabitants  of 
this  remote  country.  They  are  a  race  of  Esquimaux, 
or  perhaps  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  Indians. 
The  name  given  to  the  people  who  occupy  this  part  of 
Siberia  is  Tchuktches.  While  the  Esquimaux  are  a  di 
minutive  race,  these  Indians  are  large  and  muscular,  and 
some  of  them  very  handsome.  I  do  not  think  this  can 
be  said  of  the  women,  however,  for  there  is  nothing 
especially  striking  about  them  in  any  way.  They  re 
semble  almost  any  Indian  squaw  that  we  are  accus 
tomed  to  seeing  in  this  country.  These  people  are 
obliged  by  their  climate  to  dress  almost  entirely  in 
skins  and  furs,  and  I  think  in  most  cases,  when  once 
put  on,  they  remain  there  until  they  are  worn  out. 
Prompted  by  curiosity,  I  asked  one  of  the  women  to 
remove  her  leggings  and  moccasins  to  show  me  her 
foot,  which  she  did  without  hesitation.  Her  leg  seemed 
to  be  very  slim,  and  her  foot  showed  evidences  of  hav 
ing  been  in  the  moccasin  for  a  very  long  time.  These 
Tchuktches  are  a  very  amiable  and  friendly  race,  and, 
although  there  are  instances  on  record  where  they  have 
committed  outrages  upon  vessels  stranded  on  that  coast, 

222 


RETURN    TO    SAN    FRANCISCO 

I  do  not  think  at  the  time  about  which  I  am  writing 
there  had  been  any  recent  occurrences  of  such  acts.  As 
we  entered  Plover  Bay  a  large  boat  filled  with  these 
people  came  out  to  meet  us.  They  came  alongside,  and 
I  permitted  them  to  come  on  board.  They  swarmed  all 
over  the  ship,  and  seemed  delighted  with  everything 
they  saw.  To  any  one  who  cruised  in  those  seas  at 
that  time  the  name  of  one  of  the  aborigines  should  be 
familiar  —  the  name  of  Nok-um.  He  had  been  em 
ployed  by  American  or  English  traders  on  that  coast 
from  time  to  time  as  a  pilot,  and  had  learned  a  good 
deal  of  English,  for  he  was  an  intelligent  fellow  and  a 
man  of  a  great  deal  of  observation.  Nok-um  came  on 
board  to  see  me  the  day  of  my  arrival  accompanied  by 
his  wife.  She  had  an  ugly  lump  on  her  forehead,  which 
her  husband  had  given  her  the  night  before  when  he 
was  drunk.  They  seemed,  however,  to  have  made  up, 
for  they  were  on  the  best  of  terms  while  on  board. 
E"ok-um,  as  I  have  said,  was  a  bright  fellow,  and  very 
appreciative.  I  showed  him  a  Colt's  revolving  fowling- 
piece,  when  he  threw  up  his  hands,  and,  using  a  strong 
expression  to  give  emphasis  to  what  he  said,  exclaimed, 
"  Melican  man  knows  everything !" 

I  lost  no  time  in  leaving  Plover  Bay  behind  me.  The 
astronomers  with  their  appliances  were  brought  on 
board  with  the  least  possible  delay,  and  the  night  of 
the  day  upon  which  the  eclipse  took  place  we  were 
well  on  our  way  towards  the  Aleutian  Islands.  Two 
or  three  days  brought  us  up  to  the  Passes.  I  am  not 
sure  whether  we  left  Behring  Sea  by  the  same  Pass 
through  which  we  entered  it,  but  I  remember  that  it 
was  a  lovely  day,  that  the  scenery  was  grand,  that  an 
active  volcano  was  belching  forth  volumes  of  smoke, 
that  the  Mohican  was  doing  her  best  with  all  the  steam 

223 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

and  sail  that  she  could  carry,  and  that  we  were  all  happy 
at  the  prospect  of  getting  back  again  to  civilization.  It 
was  blowing  very  fresh,  and  I  had  double-reefed  the 
top-sails,  thinking  it  possible  I  might  have  to  carry  sail 
hard  to  fetch  through  the  Pass.  This  is  exactly  what 
did  occur.  The  wind  freshened  to  half  a  gale,  heading 
us  oif,  so  that  we  were  running  almost  parallel  with  the 
land  and  were  making  some  leeway.  I  was  running  at 
full  speed,  with  the  engine  doing  its  best.  I  dared  not 
reduce  sail,  for  fear  of  making  more  leeway,  so  I  got 
up  the  preventer-braces,  determined  to  hang  on  to  the 
double-reefed  top-sails  as  long  as  possible.  The  situation 
was  rather  trying,  for  in  case  the  gale  increased  so  that 
I  could  carry  no  sail,  I  doubted  my  ability  to  find  my 
way  back  through  the  Pass  into  Behring  Sea.  Fort 
unately  we  were  enabled  to  hold  on  to  our  canvas  until 
we  had  made  a  good  offing,  and  by  midnight  the  condi 
tion  of  things  was  very  much  improved,  so  that  I  felt 
there  was  need  no  longer  for  apprehension  that  we 
might  have  to  pass  the  winter  in  these  hyperborean 
regions.  By  daylight  we  were  clear  of  everything,  and 
fairly  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  I  now  made  the  best  of  my 
way  to  Esquimault,  in  British  Columbia,  and,  after  fill 
ing  up  with  coal,  sailed  for  San  Francisco.  Upon  reach 
ing  that  port  I  sped  the  astronomers  on  their  way  to  the 
East  and  reported  to  Admiral  Turner,  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Pacific  Squadron,  for  duty  under  his  com 
mand. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

In  Honolulu  —  A  Gay  Season  —  Queen  Liliuokalani  —  The  Mohican 
Ball  —  Eastern  Duty  —  Promoted  Captain  —  In  Command  of  the 
Wabash — Key  West  Rendezvous — Captain  of  the  Franklin — On 
the  European  Station — A  Mistaken  Salute— Gathering  at  Cartha- 
gena — Train-Robbers — In  the  Grecian  Archipelago. 

I  WAS  not  long  kept  idle,  for  the  Admiral's  Flag-ship 
was  undergoing  repairs,  and  I  was  directed  to  prepare 
the  Mohican  to  take  her  place  temporarily  for  a  cruise 
to  the  Sandwich  Islands.  The  Admiral  and  his  Chief 
of  Staff,  Commander  Philip  Johnson,  came  on  board,  the 
Admiral's  flag  was  hoisted  at  the  mizzen  of  the  Mohican, 
and  we  sailed  for  Honolulu.  We  ran  south,  took  the 
northeast  trade-winds,  and  in  due  course  of  time  were 
secured  in  the  snug  harbor  of  Honolulu,  where  we  re 
mained  for  about  six  weeks. 

The  presence  of  a  man-of-war  in  Honolulu  always 
gives  rise  to  an  unusual  amount  of  gayety.  Dinners 
and  balls  and  entertainments  of  all  sorts  were  immedi 
ately  devised.  The  Admiral  and  his  staff  and  I  were 
presented  to  the  King,  and  were  soon  after  invited  by 
him  to  dine  at  the  Palace.  I  think  the  Kamehameha  at 
that  time  (1869)  was  the  fifth  of  that  name,  commonly 
called  Lot.  He  was  a  kindly,  genial  man,  and  if  any 
one  could  have  heard  him  converse  without  seeing  him 
he  would  have  been  taken  for  an  educated  American 
or  English  gentleman.  His  manners  were  exceedingly 
good,  and  one  could  not  be  associated  with  him  without 
p  225 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

liking  him.  We  all  went  to  the  dinner,  which  was  good, 
and  everything  was  served  in  excellent  taste.  After 
the  feast  His  Majesty,  Johnson,  and  some  of  the  other 
guests,  sat  down  to  a  game  of  poker,  a  game  in  which 
the  King  took  great  delight.  On  this  occasion  there 
was  no  limit  to  the  betting,  and  it  turned  out  to  be  a 
higher  game  than  I  was  accustomed  to  play ;  but  I  was 
in  for  it,  seated  by  the  side  of  Majesty.  It  was  a  case 
of  noblesse  oblige,  and  I  could  not  back  out.  It  so  hap 
pened  that  I  was  in  great  luck.  I  drew  to  three  eights, 
and  picked  up  another;  His  Majesty  held  at  the  same 
time  a  full  of  aces,  so  it  took  fours  to  beat  him.  The 
betting  was  of  course  very  lively,  and  continued  to  be 
so  until  the  pile  on  the  table  amounted  to  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Then  there  was  a  call  by 
one  or  the  other — I  do  not  now  remember  which.  The 
cards  were  then  shown,  and  I  bagged  the  pile.  When  I 
returned  to  San  Francisco  my  friends  informed  me  that 
it  was  reported  that  I  had  won  ten  thousand  dollars 
from  the  King  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  We  had  sev 
eral  entertainments  of  this  kind  during  our  stay,  at 
which  His  Majesty  was  always  present. 

Our  Minister,  Mr.  Pearce,  was  at  that  time  living  at 
the  house  of  Mrs.  Dominis,  the  mother  of  John  Dominis, 
who  was  then  the  Governor  of  Oahu.  John  Dominis 
married  Lydia,  who  was  a  high  Chiefess  at  that  time, 
afterwards  becoming  Queen,  and  now  the  dethroned 
Liliuokalani.  She  also  lived  with  Mrs.  Dominis,  and,  as 
I  was  very  intimate  with  the  Minister,  and  saw  him 
nearly  every  day,  I  was  necessarily  thrown  a  good  deal 
with  Lydia.  I  remember  one  day,  when  John  Dominis 
and  I  had  been  up  late  at  a  party  the  night  before,  he 
asked  me  to  go  up  to  their  room,  which  I  did,  when  we 
both  threw  off  our  coats  and  lay  down  on  the  bed  in  our 

226 


MRS.   BISHOP    AT    HONOLULU 

shirt-sleeves.  While  we  were  lounging  there  Lydia  was 
moving  about  the  room,  pursuing  her  usual  employ 
ments.  The  breath  of  scandal  had  never  reached  her, 
and,  so  far  as  I  knew,  her  reputation  and  character  \vere 
beyond  reproach.  The  Dowager  Queen  Emma  was  at 
Honolulu  at  that  time,  living  quietly  at  her  country- 
place  near  the  city.  She  was  a  pretty  woman,  and 
maintained  the  dignity  of  her  position  extremely  well. 
She  always  appeared  accompanied  by  an  attendant. 

One  of  the  native  women  whom  I  remember  with 
great  pleasure  was  Mrs.  Bishop,  the  wife  of  an  American 
who  was  a  banker  in  Honolulu.  She  was  very  hand 
some,  was  a  highly  educated  and  accomplished  woman, 
and  would  have  done  credit  to  any  society  in  the  world. 
I  have  dined  at  her  house,  and  have  rarely  been  more 
beautifully  entertained.  If  these  lines  should  meet  the 
eye  of  any  one  who  was  in  Honolulu  about  that  time,  I 
am  sure  he  will  corroborate  all  I  have  said  about  her. 
Mrs.  Bishop  was  well  known,  not  only  in  her  own  City, 
but  in  San  Francisco,  and  had  the  faculty  of  making 
friends  wherever  she  went.  A  charming  family  of 
Americans  resided  in  Honolulu  at  that  time — Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Williams  and  their  little  daughter ;  they  lived  de 
lightfully  in  ISTuana  Valley.  I  shall  never  forget  an  ex 
tremely  pleasant  dinner  at  their  house,  nor  shall  I  ever 
forget  those  that  I  have  taken  with  them  in  Washing 
ton,  where  they  now  reside.  They  are  still  much  as 
they  were  in  those  days,  and  their  little  daughter  has 
grown  up  to  be  a  charming  and  highly  cultivated  young 
woman.  I  see  a  great  deal  of  them  now,  and  we  often 
talk  about  those  by-gone  days  at  Honolulu.  One  of  the 
characters  there  at  that  time  was  a  Mr.  Wodehouse,  the 
British  Minister.  I  have  heard  of  him  recently  in  con 
nection  with  the  late  troubles  there,  but  exactly  in  what 

227 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

way  I  do  not  now  remember.  He  was  so  thoroughly 
English,  as  indeed  he  ought  to  have  been,  that  our  Min 
ister,  Mr.  McCook,  spoke  of  him  as  a  man  who  always 
carried  a  copy  of  England  in  his  pocket.  It  was  this  re 
mark,  I  think,  that  caused  me  to  remember  him  as  well 
as  I  do. 

The  time  for  our  departure  was  now  rapidly  approach 
ing.  We  had  received  a  great  deal  of  attention,  and  de 
termined  to  show  our  appreciation  of  it  by  giving  as 
grand  a  ball  as  the  resources  of  the  Mohican  would  al 
low.  The  ship  was  accordingly  turned  over  to  the 
managers,  and  she  was  soon  so  transformed  that  she 
could  hardly  be  recognized  as  a  man-of-war.  His  Maj 
esty  and  the  royal  people,  together  with  the  whole  of 
the  society  of  Honolulu,  came  to  the  ball.  It  was  a 
great  occasion,  and  none  failed  to  avail  himself  of  such 
an  opportunity.  It  is  contrary  to  the  Naval  regulations 
to  have  poker  on  board  ship ;  but  knowing  the  King's 
fondness  for  it,  I  took  the  responsibility  of  disregarding 
them  for  the  time  and  made  a  card-room  of  my  cabin, 
in  order  that  he  might  indulge  in  his  favorite  game. 
The  ball  was  a  great  success,  and  I  think  every  one 
went  home  pleased,  except,  perhaps,  His  Majesty  him 
self.  The  contretemps  which  gave  rise  to  this  supposi 
tion  I  will  now  proceed  to  relate. 

The  late  Queen,  whom,  as  I  have  before  stated,  I 
knew  very  well,  and  whom  I  shall  call  Lydia  in  future, 
for  that  is  the  familiar  name  by  which  she  was  known 
in  those  days,  sent  a  message  to  me  one  day  that  she 
desired  to  see  me.  I  called  at  her  bidding  and  found 
her  entirely  alone.  She  did  not  proceed  at  once  to  the 
business  about  which  she  had  sent  for  me,  but  asked 
me  to  sit  down  and  play  a  game  of  cribbage  with  her, 
which  I  did.  A  visitor  came  in,  which  interrupted  our 

228 


PROMOTED    TO    CAPTAINCY 

game,  but  as  I  felt  sure  it  was  not  for  the  purpose  of 
playing  a  game  of  cribbage  that  she  had  sent  for  me,  I 
remained  until  the  visitor  departed.  She  then  began  her 
story.  She  told  me  how  much  they  were  all  devoted  to 
the  King,  how  he  departed  from  his  usual  custom  to 
attend  our  ball,  and  that  he  did  so  to  do  away  with  an 
impression  that  he  was  not  favorably  disposed  towards 
Americans.  She  then  went  on  to  say  that  it  had  been 
told  to  them,  meaning  those  near  the  throne,  that  when 
it  was  reported  to  the  Admiral  that  the  King  was  about 
to  leave  the  ship,  instead  of  going  to  the  gangway  to 
see  His  Majesty  into  the  boat,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases, 
he  made  the  remark,  "  Let  the  King  go  to  the  devil !" 
I  expressed  myself  very  much  surprised,  and  at  once  as 
sured  Lydia  that  it  was  quite  impossible  that  the  Ad 
miral  could  have  been  guilty  of  such  a  want  of  respect 
for  His  Majesty,  and  that  I  was  confident  that  he  had 
not  made  the  remark  ascribed  to  him,  and  was  sure 
nothing  could  have  been  further  from  his  thoughts.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  I  had  heard  nothing  of  the  occurrence 
as  reported.  Lydia  expressed  herself  entirely  satisfied, 
and  the  entente  cordiale  was  restored. 

I  think  it  was  in  November,  1869,  that  we  sailed  from 
Honolulu  for  the  Coast  of  the  Pacific,  and  reached  there 
about  the  end  of  the  year.  Soon  after  this  I  was  de 
tached  from  the  Mohican,  and  later  was  on  duty  at 
Mare  Island  Navy- Yard,  where  I  remained  for  some 
time  and  then  went  East.  I  was  on  duty  for  a  while 
at  the  Washington  Navy- Yard,  and  also  at  New  Lon 
don,  and  then  remained  for  a  time  on  leave. 

I  was  promoted  in  1873  to  Captain,  being  then  forty- 
eight  years  of  age.  Promotion  was  made  at  an  earlier 
age  then  than  it  is  now,  for  it  would  be  a  rare  thing  at 
this  time  to  find  a  Captain  under  fifty.  Soon  after  my 

229 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

promotion  I  was  ordered  to  command  the  Wabash,  as 
Chief  of  Staff  to  Admiral  Case,  who  was  going  out  to 
relieve  Alden,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  European 
Station.  We  sailed  from  New  York  together  in  the 
old  Cunarder  Russia — the  last  of  the  side- wheel  steam 
ers  of  that  line — in  the  spring  or  early  summer  of  1873. 
We  passed  a  few  days  in  London  and  Paris,  and  in 
due  time  reached  Villefranche,  where  we  found  Alden 
with  the  Flag-ship  Wdbash,  Captain  Temple,  and  the 
Brooklyn,  Captain  Bryson.  Alden  shifted  his  flag  to 
the  latter  ship  and  sailed  for  home ;  Case  hoisted  his  on 
board  the  Wabash,  and  assumed  command  of  the  Squad 
ron,  while  I  relieved  Temple  in  command  of  the  ship. 

We  did  not  remain  long  at  Yillefranche,  but  started 
soon  for  a  cruise  to  the  eastward,  touching  at  a  number 
of  the  Greek  islands  and  getting  as  far  east  as  Trieste. 
We  remained  for  several  days  at  the  PiraBus,  whence  we 
went  to  Athens,  and  were  all  presented  to  King  George 
and  Queen  Olga.  We  made  but  a  brief  stay  in  the  East, 
and  upon  returning  to  headquarters  at  Villefranche  we 
found  orders  for  the  Squadron  to  proceed  immediately 
to  Key  West. 

There  was  a  war-cloud  hanging  over  the  country, 
caused  by  the  Virginius  affair.  It  looked  very  much 
as  if  we  were  to  have  war  with  Spain,  and  the  Squadron 
from  the  coast  of  Brazil  and  a  large  force  from  the 
North  were  ordered,  like  ourselves,  to  rendezvous  at 
Key  West.  It  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  demon 
strations  that  this  country  had  ever  made,  certainly  the 
largest  since  the  Civil  War.  Rear- Admiral  Case  com 
manded  the  whole  force.  Scott,  who  commanded  the 
West  India  Station,  and  felt  sensitive  about  another 
Flag  Officer's  commanding  on  the  Station  which  had 
been  his,  was  permitted  by  Case  to  take  his  Flag-ship  to 

"230 


LEAVE   THE    WABASH  FOR  THE  FRANKLIN 

another  part  of  the  Station.  While  negotiations  were 
going  on  in  reference  to  the  affair  in  question,  the  fleet 
was  not  idle.  We  had  daily  exercises  at  fleet  ma 
noeuvres,  torpedo-practice,  target-firing,  and  such  other 
work  as  would  fit  the  fleet  for  action  in  case  diplo 
macy  failed.  I  doubt  if  there  was  any  Naval  force  of 
its  size  in  the  world  that  would  have  given  a  better  ac 
count  of  itself  than  this  fleet.  It  so  turned  out  that 
everything  was  amicably  arranged.  These  events  took 
place  late  in  18Y3  and  early  in  1874.  After  the  peace 
ful  solution  of  the  problem  which  had  for  some  time 
been  agitating  the  Cabinets  of  the  United  States  and 
Spain,  this  Naval  force  was  dispersed.  The  Wabash, 
which  was  my  command,  had  about  completed  her 
European  cruise,  and  it  was  ordered  that  the  Franklin, 
which  had  just  come  out  from  home  with  a  fresh  crew, 
should  take  her  place  as  Admiral  Case's  Flag-ship.  The 
question  then  arose  who  was  to  be  her  Captain.  Simp 
son  certainly  had  a  better  claim  than  I,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  Case,  to  whom  I  was  Chief  of  Staff,  was  so  anx 
ious  that  I  should  return  with  him  to  Europe  that  he 
told  me  that  if  I  was  not  permitted  to  do  so  he  would 
throw  up  the  command.  It  was  certainly  very  compli 
mentary  to  me,  and  I  have  always  appreciated  this  par 
tiality  on  the  part  of  the  Admiral.  Fortunately,  Simp 
son  wished  to  return  to  the  North,  and  was  entirely 
willing  to  exchange  commands  with  me.  This  arrange 
ment  was  approved  by  the  Department,  and  so  I  went 
to  the  Franklin  as  Captain  of  the  new  Flag-ship.  Thus 
ended  an  embarrassing  situation,  which  bid  fair  at  one 
time  to  bring  my  European  cruise  to  a  sudden  termina 
tion.  Before  returning  to  our  Station  we  made  a  brief 
visit  to  Havana,  where  we  found  it  very  pleasant,  now 
that  the  entente  cordiale  was  restored.  Soon  after  this 

231 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

peaceful  visit,  which  but  a  short  time  before  we  thought, 
if  we  went  there  at  all,  might  be  a  hostile  one,  we  sailed 
for  the  Mediterranean,  and  reached  our  headquarters  in 
due  course  of  time. 

It  was  now  the  spring  of  1874.  Spain  was  in  the 
throes  of  internal  dissension.  The  revolutionists  had 
captured  Carthagena,  and  had  commissioned  and  sent 
out  on  a  raid  along  the  coast  the  then  powerful  battle 
ship  Numancia.  Her  mission  was  to  bring  to  terms  any 
of  the  loyal  cities  within  her  reach.  She  was  pur 
sued  by  the  British  Ship  Swiftsure,  Captain  "Ward,  and 
a  German  ship-of-war,  Captain  Werder,  and  driven  back 
into  Carthagena,  they  threatening  to  fire  upon  her  if 
she  failed  to  obey  their  directions.  The  Numancia  was 
officered  and  manned  by  the  revolutionists,  and  was  very 
much  such  a  man-of-war  as  we  read  of  during  the  days 
of  the  French  Revolution,  one  of  the  kind  that  Nelson 
once  captured,  on  board  of  which  there  had  been  a  revo 
lution  the  night  before,  when  the  Captain  was  deposed 
and  a  petty  officer  was  elected  in  his  place.  Under  such 
circumstances  it  was  thought  by  her  people  that  she 
had  better  do  as  she  was  told,  so  she  steamed  quietly 
back  into  port. 

One  bright  morning  the  Franklin  arrived  off  Cartha 
gena,  and  saw  that  the  Spanish  flag  was  flying  at  the 
Fort.  As  we  were  entirely  ignorant  of  the  events  which 
I  have  just  been  relating,  the  Admiral  ordered  the  na 
tional  salute  to  be  fired,  which  was  returned  from  the 
shore.  I  was  told  afterwards  that  the  Intransigentes 
then  said,  "  Ah !  the  Americans  are  with  us ;  now  we 
are  all  right!"  We  soon  after  came  to  anchor,  and 
were  visited  by  a  Lieutenant  from  a  British  man-of-war, 
who  asked  the  Admiral  if  he  understood  the  state  of 
affairs  then  existing  in  Carthagena ;  and  upon  his  reply- 

232 


AT    CARTHAGENA 

ing  in  the  negative  he  explained  to  him  the  situation,  so 
that  we  found  we  had  been  saluting  the  Rebels.  It  was 
awkward,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it  now.  Before  we 
anchored,  however,  the  Spanish  Flag-ship  with  the  loyal 
Admiral  on  board  came  along,  and  we  saluted  him.  A 
boat  was  then  sent  from  us  to  him  with  an  officer,  who 
was  directed  to  explain  the  situation,  and  we  heard  of  it 
no  more. 

The  condition  of  affairs  was  such  now  in  and  about 
Carthagena  that  the  Admirals  of  the  different  nations 
serving  in  the  Mediterranean  were  directed  to  assem 
ble  there.  I  do  not  remember  the  names  of  any  of  the 
Admirals  or  ships,  but  that  of  Vice- Admiral  Sir  Yelver- 
ton  Hastings,  in  his  Flag-ship  the  Lord  Warden.  There 
were  there,  however,  Italian,  French,  and  German  ships, 
and  our  own  Flag-ship.  We  were  there  rather  to  pro 
tect  our  own  interests  than  to  take  part  with  what  I 
suppose  might  be  called  the  representatives  of  the  Euro 
pean  Concert  at  that  time.  As  is  usual  when  a  number 
of  ships-of-war  of  different  nations  come  together,  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  dining  and  wining,  and  in  this  case 
there  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Sir  Yelverton  Has 
tings  was  an  able  Admiral  and  a  charming  man,  to  my 
mind  head  and  shoulders  above  any  of  the  other  Euro 
pean  commanding  officers  then  assembled  at  Carthagena. 
He  seemed  to  be,  par  excellence,  the  central  figure  about 
whom  the  others  revolved,  and  in  saying  this  I  do  not 
mean  to  belittle  the  others,  for  they  were  all  men  of  a 
high  order  of  merit,  and  all  did  their  share  towards  sup 
pressing  the  lawlessness  which  then  existed  on  the  coast 
of  Spain.  One  thing  struck  me  when  I  was  on  board  the 
Lord  Warden  as  a  little  curious,  but  perhaps  not  unusual, 
which  was  that  the  officers,  in  addressing  the  Admiral, 
would  call  him  "  Sir  Yelverton  "  instead  of  "  Admiral," 

283 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

thus  using  the  civil  title  in  preference  to  the  military 
one.  In  addition  to  the  blockade  of  the  insurgent  port 
by  a  Spanish  Squadron,  the  place  was  invested  by  the 
Army  under  General  Martinez  Campos,  who  has  filled 
many  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility  since  those 
days,  notably  as  Commander  -  in  -  Chief  of  the  Spanish 
forces  in  Cuba  during  the  rebellion  no\v  in  existence 
there.  Some  of  our  officers  went  to  the  front,  and  were 
received  by  him  with  great  kindness  and  courtesy. 
Every  one  knows  that  he  was  relieved  of  his  command 
in  Cuba  because  he  did  not  conduct  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion  with  that  severity  which  his  Govern 
ment  thought  was  demanded  of  him.  At  Carthagena 
he  soon  brought  the  insurgents  to  terms,  and  restored 
this  important  Arsenal  to  its  legitimate  Government. 

While  on  the  Spanish  coast  we  visited  Barcelona,  and 
made  up  a  party  to  Montserrat,  a  monastery  ten  or 
fifteen  leagues  from  the  City,  well  up  in  the  mountains. 
At  one  time  in  the  primitive  days  of  Spain  it  was  most 
useful  to  weary  and  belated  travellers,  who  went  about 
the  country  on  horseback  as  well  as  on  foot,  and  were 
glad  enough  to  find  this  hospitable  resting-place,  where 
they  could  pass  the  night  without  money  and  without 
price.  At  this  time  there  was  a  regiment  of  Carlists  en 
camped  near  the  monastery.  As  we  approached  it  we 
were  stopped  by  their  sentinels,  but  after  some  formali 
ties  were  permitted  to  proceed.  They  were  a  fine-look 
ing  set  of  men,  who  seemed  very  much  in  earnest,  and 
enthusiastic  about  the  cause  in  which  they  were  en 
listed.  As  I  spoke  some  Spanish,  I  took  occasion  to 
talk  to  them  from  time  to  time,  and  they  exhibited  an 
intelligence  unusual  in  private  soldiers.  This,  however, 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for,  although  their  ranks  con 
tained  many  rough  characters,  yet  there  were  to  be 

234 


ESCAPE    SPANISH    BANDITS 

found  in  them  also  some  of  the  best  blood  of  Spain. 
The  Colonel  of  the  regiment  was  going,  the  next  day 
after  our  arrival,  to  Barcelona  in  disguise.  As  that  City 
was  in  possession  of  the  Government  party,  we  all 
thought  it  was  at  the  risk  of  his  neck,  but  he  seemed 
to  be  under  no  apprehension,  and  begged  me  to  say  to 
the  Admiral  that  he  would  be  happy  to  be  the  bearer 
of  any  despatch  he  might  have  to  send.  I  thanked  him 
on  the  part  of  the  Admiral  for  his  kind  offer,  and  told 
him  that  we  were  going  there  ourselves  the  next  day. 
Sure  enough,  on  the  next  day,  as  we  were  alighting  from 
the  diligence  that  conveyed  us  to  the  point  where  we 
took  the  train  for  Barcelona,  the  Colonel  was  at  the  sta 
tion,  and  gave  me  a  nod  of  recognition  as  he  passed  me. 
I  have  never  yet  been  able  to  understand  how  he  went 
within  the  lines  of  the  enemy  apparently  with  so  little 
concern. 

Later,  I  visited  Montserrat  for  the  second  time.  The 
cause  of  the  Carlists  had  come  to  grief,  and  the  troops 
had  recently  been  disbanded.  The  country  was  overrun 
with  highwaymen,  and  we  were  soon  made  to  feel  their 
presence  near  us.  Our  party  were  in  the  train  on  the 
way  from  Saragossa  to  Barcelona,  when  suddenly  it 
stopped  in  an  unusual  place.  In  the  carriage  in  which 
I  was  the  silk  screen  which  conceals  the  light  from  above 
had  been  drawn,  as  we  all  felt  disposed  to  take  a  nap. 
It  was  to  this  happy  circumstance  that  we  owed  our 
escape  from  a  visit  of  a  party  of  banditti,  who  thought, 
as  the  compartment  was  dark  within,  that  it  contained 
no  occupants.  The  train  was  stopped  by  these  worthies 
by  a  red  signal  displayed  in  front,  the  universal  railway 
signal  for  danger  ahead.  The  engineer  and  fireman 
were  seized  and  placed  on  the  road-side,  with  an  armed 
sentinel  over  them.  The  robbers  then  went  through  the 

235 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

train,  excepting  the  carriage  in  which  I  was.  On  each 
side  of  each  carriage  they  placed  a  man  with  a  sort  of 
blunderbuss ;  then  one  of  their  number  would  enter  with 
a  long  knife  in  his  hand,  demanding  money  and  watches. 
And  so  they  went  through  the  whole  train,  escaping 
with  their  plunder,  which,  after  all,  including  watches 
and  money,  did  not  amount  to  more  than  about  twelve 
hundred  dollars.  Our  Commissioner,  who  was  con 
ducting  the  party,  and  who  had  with  him  a  bag  of 
money  for  the  payment  of  fares  and  other  expenses  of 
the  expedition,  had  the  presence  of  mind,  when  he  saw 
what  was  coming,  to  throw  his  bag  in  amongst  the  coal, 
thus  concealing  it  from  view. 

After  our  visit  to  Barcelona  we  went  to  Marseilles, 
making  but  a  short  stay  in  the  muddy  waters  of  the 
harbor,  from  whence  we  were  glad  to  get  away.  "We 
then  went  to  Yillefranche  for  a  while,  and  enjoyed  the 
delights  of  Nice  and  Monte  Carlo. 

The  time  now  approaching  for  the  summer's  cruise, 
we  bade  adieu  to  those  friendly  shores  and  stretched 
away  for  the  Grecian  Archipelago,  where  we  visited  a 
number  of  the  islands  of  which  it  is  composed.  I  hap 
pened  to  be  at  Zante  on  Sunday,  and  went  to  early  mass. 
The  church  was  very  small  and  very  plain.  The  acolyte 
who  served  the  mass  was  the  French  Consul,  as  there 
was  no  one  else  to  officiate.  The  Greek  Nomarch,  the 
principal  official  of  the  little  fort,  was  present,  although 
not  a  Catholic.  His  chief  occupation  seemed  to  be  to 
keep  order  amongst  the  crowd  of  unruly  children  who 
had  drifted  into  the  little  chapel  to  see  what  was  going 
on.  My  attention  from  time  to  time  would  be  attracted 
by  seeing  the  Nomarch  crack  a  restless  urchin  over  the 
head  with  his  baton  of  office.  Cruising  in  the  Grecian 
Archipelago  is  not  especially  interesting.  Apart  from 


AT    ZANTE    AND    MILO 

its  classic  associations  this  group  has  nothing  of  particu 
lar  interest  to  recommend  it  to  the  traveller.  The  prin 
cipal  occupation  of  the  day  would  be  a  drive  in  the 
evening.  At  Zante  we  saw  growing  the  currant  of 
commerce,  which  is,  after  all,  no  currant  at  all,  but  a 
small  grape,  which  grows  in  bunches  like  the  ordinary 
grape.  The  word  currant  is  simply  a  corruption  of 
Corinth — Corinth  grapes,  then  corinths,  then  currants. 
At  the  island  of  Milo,  where  was  found  the  celebrated 
"  Venus,"  we  remained  a  few  days  for  target-practice. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  one  there  from  whom  to  get 
permission,  so  we  made  a  target  of  a  side  of  a  hill  and 
blazed  away.  The  harbor  is  perfect,  being  completely 
land-locked,  but  the  island  seems  to  be  of  no  importance 
whatever.  In  the  times  of  ancient  Greece  it  was  no 
doubt  of  great  value,  but  now  it  has  the  reputation  of 
being  a  pest-hole,  and  has  become  almost  entirely  de 
populated.  We  went  as  far  east  as  Smyrna,  and  after 
a  short  stay  there  we  returned  to  the  western  part  of 
the  Station. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Port  Mahon — A  Negro  Consul — In  Crete — Admiral  Worden — The 
King  of  Portugal  —  A  Northern  Cruise  —  Royal  Dinners  —  Un 
wonted  Honors  to  Worden — Berlin  and  Copenhagen — The  Charms 
of  Stockholm — A  Russian  Naval  Review — Festivities  at  St.  Peters 
burg. 

I  HAD  never  been  to  Port  Mahon,  and  was  very  glad 
when  the  Admiral  directed  me  to  proceed  with  the 
Fra/nMin  to  that  place.  It  was  formerly  the  head 
quarters  of  the  Squadron,  and  the  Navy  is  filled  with 
traditions  of  events  which  took  place  there  years  and 
years  before.  While  I  am  writing  I  am  reminded  of  a 
little  ditty  illustrative  of  the  stormy  character  of  Cape 
de  Gatt,  and  the  comforts  associated  with  Port  Mahon. 
It  was  thus : 

"Off  Cape  de  Gatt  I  lost  my  hat, 

And  where  do  you  think  I  found  it  ? 
In  Port  Mahon,  behind  a  stone, 
And  all  the  girls  around  it." 

A  number  of  Naval  officers  married  here,  and  some 
of  the  best  people  in  America  come  of  Mahonese  ances 
try,  amongst  others  Farragut  and  Benet,  one  the  great 
Admiral,  the  other  a  distinguished  officer  of  the  Army. 
At  this  time  (1875)  there  was  a  negro  Consul  at  Ma 
hon.  Upon  our  arrival  I  sent  a  boat  for  him,  when  he 
came  on  board  and  received  his  salute  of  seven  guns. 
Of  course  the  situation  was  new  and  embarrassing  for 
him,  but  he  acquitted  himself  with  as  much  dignity  as 

238 


THE    ORGAN    AT    PORT    MAHON 

could  reasonably  be  expected.  He  made  a  theatre-party 
for  the  officers  while  we  were  there,  which  the  Admiral 
and  I  declined,  or  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  say  that 
we  did  not  intend  to  go.  Upon  hearing  this  the  Ward 
room  officers  decided  that,  as  the  Admiral  and  Captain 
were  not  going,  they  did  not  care  to  go  either,  where 
upon  I  sent  word  to  them,  that  under  the  circumstances 
I  should  not  only  go,  but  go  in  uniform,  and  desired 
them  all  to  do  the  same.  I  felt  sure  that  in  pursuing 
this  course  I  was  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the  Gov 
ernment.  So  we  not  only  went  to  the  theatre,  but  the 
Consul  had  prepared  a  most  elaborate  supper  for  us  at 
his  house,  of  which  we  all  partook.  Commander  Ames, 
who  was  of  the  party,  and  was  entirely  equal  to  the 
occasion  by  his  wit  and  fun,  made  everything  pass  off 
most  satisfactorily.  The  Consul  was  happy,  and  I  felt 
that  I  had  done  my  duty. 

At  Port  Mahon  there  is  one  of  the  finest  organs  in  the 
world,  perhaps  the  only  object  of  special  interest  to  be 
found  there.  We  were  taken  to  the  church  which  con 
tains  it,  and  it  was  a  great  treat  to  hear  the  melodious 
sounds  which  were  produced.  The  reason  why  this 
grand  instrument  is  at  so  insignificant  a  place  as  Mahon 
is  this :  Many  years  ago  the  vessel  in  which  it  was  the 
principal  cargo,  while  making  its  way  from  the  place 
where  it  was  made  to  Civita  Yecchia,  thence  to  be 
taken  to  Kome,  was  stranded  upon  the  island  of  Mi 
norca,  of  which  Mahon  is  the  most  important  seaport. 
The  vessel  was  a  total  loss,  but  the  organ  was  saved, 
and  as  it  was  found  that  the  expense  of  reshipping  it  to 
Rome  Avas  greater  than  it  was  thought  wise  to  incur,  it 
was  placed  in  the  church  where  it  now  is,  and  from 
which  it  will  probably  never  be  removed. 

There  are  three  things,  especially,  for  which  Port 

239 


MEMORIES    OF   A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Mahon  is  famous.  One  is  its  excessive  cleanliness,  for 
the  whole  town  is  whitewashed  every  Saturday.  An 
other  is  the  delicious  shell-fish  which  is  called  the  date- 
fish — a  kind  of  mussel,  which,  as  a  very  minute  animal, 
works  its  way  into  a  porous  rock,  and  there  goes  on  in 
creasing  till  it  becomes  two  inches  long.  The  rock  is 
then  broken  and  the  date- fish  is  removed.  The  name 
has  been  given  to  it  because  of  its  resemblance  to  the 
date.  It  is  considered  a  great  delicacy,  and  ranks  high 
among  the  shell-fish  of  the  world.  The  last  of  the  three 
things  for  which  I  have  said  Mahon  is  famous  is  the 
Salsiche — a  kind  of  sausage  that  is  said  to  be  very  de 
licious,  and  in  the  traditions  of  the  old  Navy  no  supper 
at  Port  Mahon  was  complete  unless  these  two  delicacies 
formed  a  part  of  the  menu. 

During  this  summer  we  visited  the  Island  of  Crete, 
which  has  become  famous  by  its  efforts  to  throw  off  the 
Turkish  yoke,  and  during  these  latter  days  has  been  the 
scene  of  events  which  came  near  embroiling  Europe  in  a 
general  war.  We  anchored  in  Suda  Bay,  where  the 
European  Admirals  have  been  lately  assembled,  a  deep 
sort  of  fiord,  well  protected,  where  fleets  may  lie  safely 
at  anchor  with  almost  any  wind  that  may  blow.  Canea, 
which  is  the  principal  town  on  the  island,  may  be 
reached  by  crossing  a  sort  of  neck  of  land  which  sepa 
rates  it  from  the  Bay.  I  never  knew  why  it  was  not 
built  upon  this  beautiful  Bay,  where  it  would  be  so 
much  better  protected  than  where  it  now  lies.  A  large 
party  of  us  took  horses  and  donkeys  and  rode  over  to 
Canea,  a  distance  of  about  six  miles.  We  found  at  the 
end  of  our  journey  a  Greco-Turkish  town,  in  itself  utter 
ly  uninteresting,  but  the  trip  was  a  pleasant  novelty 
which  amply  repaid  us.  In  the  autumn  of  this  year  the 
Franklin  and  Alaska  went  to  Spezzia  for  an  overhaul- 

340 


REAR-ADMIRAL    JOHN    L.    WORDEN 

ing.  Both  ships  had  been  actively  cruising,  and  the  boil 
ers  of  the  Alaska  were  very  much  in  want  of  repairs. 

The  time  for  the  retirement  of  Admiral  Case  was  now 
rapidly  approaching.  He  had  been  informed  by  the 
Department  that  he  would  be  relieved  by  Admiral 
"Worden,  and  was  directed  to  proceed  with  the  Franklin 
to  Lisbon  to  meet  the  new  Commander-in-Chief.  We 
accordingly  left  the  Mediterranean,  and  reached  Lisbon 
in  time  to  make  the  change  in  the  Squadron  Command 
ers  on  the  day  that  Admiral  Case  retired.  The  Pow- 
hatan,  Captain  Jouett,  had  arrived  with  Worden  and  his 
family,  so  that  everything  was  ready  for  the  change  at 
the  appointed  time.  Case  shifted  his  flag  to  the  Pow- 
hatan  and  sailed  away  for  home. 

The  European  Station  was  now  in  command  of 
Eear- Admiral  John  L.  Worden;  his  flag  had  been 
hoisted  on  board  the  Franklin,  and  all  the  formalities 
usual  at  such  times  had  taken  place.  The  reputation  of 
this  gallant  and  able  Naval  officer  is  so  well  known,  and 
has  become  so  much  a  matter  of  history,  that  anything  I 
could  say  here  could  hardly  add  to  the  lustre  which  now 
adorns  his  name ;  but  from  my  long  intercourse  with  him 
—always  of  a  most  cordial  and  friendly  nature — I  can 
say  with  truth  that  I  found  him  possessed  of  those 
qualities  which  would  naturally  lead  up  to  the  very  acts 
of  gallantry  and  heroism  which  made  him  famous,  not 
only  in  his  own  country,  but  in  every  land  where  deeds 
of  daring  and  valor  are  held  in  high  esteem.  I  not  only 
learned  to  admire  Worden,  when  I  served  with  him  as 
Captain  of  his  Flag-ship,  but  I  formed  for  him  an  affec 
tion  which  I  have  entertained  ever  since,  and  which  I 
shall  continue  to  feel  for  him  as  long  as  I  live. 

Soon  after  Worden's  arrival  he  was  presented  to  the 
King  of  Portugal.  He  was  accompanied  by  all  the  other 
Q  241 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

members  of  the  staff  as  well  as  by  me.  As  I  remem 
ber  the  King,  he  was  unprepossessing  in  appearance,  but 
seemed  to  be  intelligent,  especially  in  matters  pertaining 
to  the  sea.  His  Majesty  and  the  Admiral  had  a  short 
conversation  about  modern  men-of-war,  after  which  we 
backed  ourselves  out,  and  the  presentation  was  at  an  end. 
We  were  also  presented  to  Don  Fernando,  who  had  been 
the  King-Consort  to  the  late  Queen.  He  had  married 
after  his  wife's  death  an  American  woman  who,  I  think, 
was  from  Boston.  After  the  interview  with  her  hus 
band,  the  Admiral,  upon  the  strength  of  her  being  an 
American,  asked  to  see  her.  Don  Fernando  then  retired, 
and  she  made  her  appearance.  She  sat  and  conversed 
with  us  some  time,  then  rose  and  left  the  room,  and  thus 
terminated  this  ceremonial. 

The  Flag-ship  sailed  from  Lisbon  some  time  in  Febru 
ary,  1875.  We  touched  en  route  at  Tangier  and  Gibral 
tar,  and  then  made  the  best  of  our  way  to  Yillefranche. 
It  had  been  the  intention  of  the  Admiral,  upon  his  ar 
rival  on  the  Station,  to  order  Captain  Carter,  of  the 
Alaska,  to  the  command  of  the  Flag-ship,  and  I  was  to 
be  ordered  to  the  Alaska  to  finish  my  cruise  in  her ;  but 
during  the  passage  to  Nice  he  thought  a  good  deal  about 
the  matter,  and  concluded  that  it  would  serve  the  pur 
poses  of  harmony  better  to  preserve  the  status  quo,  so 
this  contemplated  change  was  never  made.  I  remained 
in  command  of  the  Franklin  for  the  remainder  of  the 
cruise,  and  returned  in  her  to  the  United  States.  The 
repairs  to  the  Alaska,  which  had  been  at  Spezzia  since 
we  sailed  from  there  for  Lisbon  to  pick  up  the  Admiral, 
were  now  about  completed.  Worden  had  laid  out  for 
the  summer  a  cruise  to  the  Baltic,  so  the  Franklin  and 
Alaska  sailed  from  Yillefranche  for  the  North  some 
time  during  the  spring. 

242 


DINE    WITH    CROWN-PRINCE    OF    GERMANY 

When  we  reached  the  North  Sea  we  ran  into  the 
Kiver  Elbe  and  went  up  as  far  as  Gliickstadt.  The  Ad 
miral's  fame  had  spread  through  the  whole  maritime 
world  ;  he  had  inaugurated  the  first  ironclad  fight  known 
to  Naval  history,  and  was  honored  and  feted  wherever 
he  went.  The  German  Minister  at  Washington  had 
made  a  request  of  our  Government  that  he  should  be 
directed  to  visit  with  his  Flag-ship  the  waters  of  Ger 
many.  The  officials  of  that  rising  Naval  power  were 
desirous  of  meeting  a  man  whose  fame  had  long  since 
spread  to  her  shores.  Leaving  the  ship  at  Gliickstadt, 
the  Admiral,  accompanied  by  his  staff,  went  to  Berlin, 
where  we  met  many  of  the  distinguished  people  of  the 
German  Government.  Bismarck  was  not  in  the  city  at 
this  date,  but  he  had  left  directions  that  no  pains  should 
be  spared  to  make  the  Admiral's  time  pass,  during  his 
stay  in  Berlin,  as  pleasantly  as  possible.  Frederick,  af 
terwards  Emperor,  was  then  Crown-Prince ;  his  widow, 
who  is  still  living,  is  a  daughter  of  Queen  Yictoria. 
The  Admiral  and  his  staff,  and  Captain  Carter,  of  the 
Alaska,  were  invited  by  the  Crown-Prince  to  dine  with 
him  at  one  o'clock  at  Potsdam ;  of  course  we  all  went. 
The  dinner  company  was  composed  of  more  than  a  hun 
dred  people.  What  surprised  me  was  to  find  that  at 
that  hour  the  men  wore  dress-coats  and  the  women  were 
decolletees.  There  were  not  many  black  coats,  for  the 
men  were  nearly  all  officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy. 
The  Admiral  sat  near  the  Crown -Princess,  and  every 
honor  and  distinction  possible  were  conferred  upon  him. 
After  dinner  the  royal  carriages  arrived,  and  we  were  all 
taken  to  Sans  Souci  and  driven  around  the  grounds  of 
that  charming  spot.  Dinners  and  all  sorts  of  fetes  were 
given  in  the  Admiral's  honor,  to  all  of  which,  as  his 
Chief  of  Staff,  I  was  invited.  Our  Minister  at  Berlin  at 

243 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

this  time  was  the  Hon.  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis.  He  and 
his  charming  wife  did  honor  to  the  country  which  they 
represented  with  so  much  credit,  and  were  largely  in 
strumental  in  making  the  Admiral's  visit  agreeable  to 
him  while  he  was  in  Berlin.  They  lived  there  in  excel 
lent  style,  and  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  us  Americans 
to  see  our  Legation  in  the  hands  of  those  who  repre 
sented  the  best  type  of  our  countrymen. 

After  a  reasonable  stay  in  Berlin  we  returned  to  the 
ship,  and  soon  after  we  reached  her  sailed  away  for  the 
Baltic.  After  the  usual  passage  we  anchored  off  the 
City  of  Copenhagen,  where  we  remained  long  enough  to 
be  presented  to  their  Majesties,  the  King  and  Queen  of 
Denmark.  Besides  the  feeling  which  one  has  towards 
almost  any  ruler,  there  is  an  especial  interest  attached 
to  these  Sovereigns,  because  their  children,  particularly 
at  the  present  time,  are  objects  of  unusual  interest. 
Their  son  George  is  the  present  King  of  Greece.  He, 
as  every  one  knows,  has  been  prominently  before  the 
public  in  these  latter  days  in  consequence  of  the  Crete 
imbroglio  and  the  Greco  -  Turkish  war.  Their  eldest 
daughter  is  the  Princess  of  Wales,  and  their  daughter 
Dagmar  is  the  Dowager  Empress  of  Kussia.  I  have 
had  the  honor  of  meeting  and  conversing  with  both  King 
George  and  Empress  Dagmar,  and  have  found  them 
both  most  interesting  personages.  The  Admiral,  Cap 
tain  Carter,  and  I  were  invited  to  dine  at  the  palace 
with  the  Koyal  family.  We  accepted,  of  course,  and 
had  altogether  a  most  agreeable  time.  The  dinner 
was  good,  as  Koyal  dinners  always  are.  The  Eoyal 
family,  consisting  of  the  King,  Queen,  and  Princess 
Thyra,  sat  together,  as  is  the  custom,  on  one  side  of  the 
table,  and  the  Admiral,  Captain  Carter,  and  I  sat  oppo 
site  to  them.  There  were  a  few  other  guests,  but  not 

244 


AT    STOCKHOLM 

many.  The  conversation,  after  a  little  stiffness  at  first, 
soon  became  general,  for  their  Majesties  spoke  English 
fluently,  so  that  there  was  no  difficulty  in  conversing 
with  them.  As  the  dinner  advanced,  the  King,  then  the 
Queen,  and  then  the  Princess,  each  in  turn,  would  ask 
each  of  us  to  take  a  glass  of  wine  with  them,  and  so  the 
dinner  passed  along  pleasantly  enough.  Carter,  who  was 
sitting  next  to  me,  said,  "  I  am  going  to  ask  the  Princess 
to  take  wine  with  me."  I  replied  I  hardly  thought  it 
was  the  custom.  Whereupon  Carter  said,  "  Well,  I  am 
going  to  do  it."  The  Princess  smiled  sweetly,  and 
touched  her  glass  to  her  lips,  and  was,  perhaps,  rather 
pleased  at  our  American  and  unconventional  way  of  do 
ing  things.  The  Princess  Thyra  was  unmarried  at  that 
time,  but  has  since  become  the  wife  of  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland.  We  remained  but  a  short  time  after  this 
at  Copenhagen,  where  we  had  a  very  pleasant  visit. 
Our  Minister  to  Denmark  at  this  time  was  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Cramer,  who  had  married  a  sister  of  General  Grant. 
He  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  very  excellent  representative, 
and  his  wife  was  an  intelligent,  agreeable  woman.  Dr. 
Cramer  died  in  January,  1898,  being  Professor  of  Phi 
losophy  in  Dickinson  College. 

In  the  continuation  of  our  cruise  we  next  went  to 
Stockholm,  and  anchored  in  the  beautiful  waters  of  this 
lovely  Venice  of  the  North.  Stockholm  is,  I  think,  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  cities  in  the  world.  There  is  a 
sprightliness  and  brightness  about  its  waters  which  pro 
duce  a  most  exhilarating  effect.  The  city  rises,  as  it 
were,  out  of  the  bosom  of  the  Baltic,  and  one  never  tires 
of  lying  at  anchor  in  its  secure  and  pleasant  harbor. 
King  Oscar  was  not  behind  the  others  in  doing  honor  to 
our  Admiral.  The  latter  was,  with  his  staff,  presented 
to  His  Majesty,  who,  in  conversation  with  him,  showed 

245 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

his  appreciation  of  what  the  Admiral  had  done  to  make 
his  name  famous  in  the  annals  of  Naval  warfare. 
Amongst  the  many  things  which  he  did  to  render  his 
visit  agreeable  was  to  place  his  yacht  at  the  Admiral's 
disposal,  and  to  send  him,  with  his  staff  and  such  guests 
as  lie  thought  would  be  agreeable  to  him,  to  one  of  his 
palaces,  situated  in  these  waters  some  distance  from 
Stockholm.  The  palace  to  which  we  went  is  called 
Gripsholm.  It  was  at  one  time  occupied  by  the  old 
Kings  of  Sweden,  but  now  is  more  used  as  a  place  to 
which  excursions  are  made  by  the  Royal  family  for  the 
entertainment  of  themselves  and  their  friends.  Noth 
ing  could  exceed  the  beauty  of  the  scene  as  the  yacht 
threaded  her  way  amongst  the  many  islands  which  lie 
between  Gripsholm  and  Stockholm.  The  trip  lasted 
most  of  the  day,  and  was  exceedingly  pleasant  and  in 
teresting,  not  rendered  any  the  less  so  by  a  delicious 
luncheon  which  was  served  as  we  wound  around  amongst 
the  islands  of  this  beautiful  archipelago.  Amongst  the 
guests  that  I  remember  were  the  British  Minister  and 
his  wife,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Erskine,  who  were  amiable  peo 
ple,  whose  presence  added  very  much  to  the  pleasure 
of  the  occasion.  I  call  to  mind  also  Count  and  Countess 
Rosen,  the  latter  an  American,  daughter  of  a  well- 
known  Philadelphia  woman,  Mrs.  Bloomfield  Moore. 
The  Countess  was  a  pretty  and  agreeable  woman.  I 
met  her  again  on  a  subsequent  visit  to  Stockholm,  and, 
although  ten  years  had  elapsed,  I  found  that  time  had 
dealt  very  gently  with  her,  and  that  she  was  as  pleasant 
and  charming  as  ever. 

The  summer  was  growing  apace,  and  it  was  important 
that  we  should  take  advantage  of  the  long  days  to  fin 
ish  our  work  in  the  Baltic.  Soon  after  the  events  which 
I  have  just  related,  we  bid  adieu  to  our  friends  and  the 

246 


NAVAL    REVIEW    BY    KING    OSCAR 

beautiful  surroundings  of  this  lovely  spot,  and  the 
Franklin  and  Alaska  tripped  their  anchors  and  sailed 
away  for  Cronstadt.  At  this  time  the  Emperor  Alex 
ander  was  entertaining  King  Oscar,  of  Sweden,  who 
reached  Cronstadt  in  a  ship  of  war  about  the  same  time 
we  did.  Great  preparations  were  making  for  reviews, 
both  naval  and  military,  illuminations,  open-air  ballets, 
and  all  sorts  of  fetes  in  honor  of  His  Majesty  of  Sweden. 
The  Naval  force  reviewed  by  the  Emperor  and  King 
Oscar  consisted  of  the  Kussian  fleet  at  that  time  at 
Cronstadt,  the  American  ships  of  war  Franklin  and 
Alaska,  and  two  Swedish  ships  of  war — one  of  these 
the  ship  in  which  Oscar  had  come  from  Sweden,  the 
other  being  a  small  Swedish  ironclad.  Besides  these, 
there  was  an  American  yacht,  the  Enchantress,  owned 
by  Count  Loubat,  on  board  of  which,  as  his  guest,  was 
the  well-known  yachtsman  Mr.  Lloyd  Phoenix.  These 
vessels  were  all  anchored  in  line.  The  Emperor  and 
King  were  on  board  the  Emperor's  yacht  Rurick.  As 
they  passed  down  the  line,  the  yachts  being  already 
manned,  each  ship  fired  a  salute  consisting  of  every  gun 
in  her  battery.  With  the  Franklin  it  amounted  to 
more  than  fifty  guns,  which  was  the  largest  salute  re 
ceived  from  any  one  ship.  Our  Admiral  was,  for  the 
time  being,  under  the  command  of  the  Grand -Duke 
Constantine,  who  was  then  the  General  Admiral  of  the 
Kussian  Navy.  The  Admiral  had  received  his  orders 
from  the  Emperor  to  report  to  the  Grand -Duke  for 
duty  in  the  review,  so  he  accordingly  proceeded  on 
board  the  Rurick,  made  his  report,  and  was  assigned 
his  position.  Count  Loubat,  of  the  Enchantress,  also  was 
directed  to  report  on  board  the  Rurick,  and  was  likewise 
assigned  his  position.  Before  the  review  took  place 
the  Admiral,  Captain  Carter,  and  I  were  invited  by  the 

247 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Grand-Duke  Constantino  to  a  mid-day  dinner  on  board 
the  Rurick.  I  chanced  to  sit  opposite  to  the  Grand- 
Duke,  and  in  conversing  with  him,  across  the  table,  the 
subject  happened  to  turn  upon  tobacco,  when,  to  my 
surprise,  he  told  me  that  he  had  chewed  tobacco  for 
thirty  years  of  his  life.  I  had  thought  this  habit  was 
peculiar  to  Americans  and  sailors,  but  I  presume  he  had 
contracted  it  during  his  early  apprenticeship  as  a  seaman. 
After  the  review  was  over  the  Emperor  and  King, 
with  their  suites,  visited  the  Franklin.  It  was  my  good- 
fortune  to  be  assigned  to  the  Princess  Dagmar  as  her 
escort  around  the  ship.  This  Princess  became  Empress 
as  the  wife  of  Alexander  III.  She  was  always  known 
as  the  most  beautiful  of  the  children  of  King  Christian 
of  Denmark.  She  is  sister,  as  I  have  remarked,  to  the 
Princess  of  Wales  and  King  George  of  Greece.  I  en 
joyed  escorting  her  about  the  ship  very  much,  for  she 
was  not  only  a  very  beautiful  woman,  but  was  most 
agreeable  and  charming  in  every  way.  Her  great  at 
traction  was  that  she  was  so  perfectly  natural  and  well- 
bred,  and  one  felt  instantly  when  talking  to  her  as  he 
would  when  conversing  with  any  pleasing  and  intelli 
gent  woman.  She  appeared  to  be  a  great  favorite  with 
the  Emperor,  and  he  was  constantly  calling  out  to  her, 
"  Minnie,"  which  seemed  to  be  his  pet  name  for  her. 
The  visit  of  the  Imperial  family  was  apparently  enjoyed 
by  them  all,  for  they  made  a  long  visit.  The  King  of 
Sweden,  during  his  brother's  reign,  had  been  an  Ad 
miral  in  the  Swedish  Navy ;  he  took  an  especial  interest 
in  everything  I  told  him,  and  when  I  related  to  him 
something  in  connection  with  caring  for  the  well-being 
of  the  crew,  he  forgot  his  Kingship,  and,  patting  me  on 
the  back,  said,  "  That's  right,  Captain ;  always  look  out 
for  your  men." 


KINDNESS    OF    ADMIRAL    BOUTIKOFF 

The  day  that  these  events  which  I  have  been  describ 
ing  took  place  was  a  busy  one  for  the  Imperial  family 
as  well  as  ourselves.  There  was  to  be  an  illumination 
at  Peterhoff  of  all  the  public  buildings  and  of  the  fields 
surrounding  them  as  well.  The  Admiral  and  Staff  were 
not  only  invited  to  assist  at  the  festivities  which  were 
to  take  place,  but  were  provided  with  apartments  in 
the  palace  also.  At  this  season  of  the  year  there  is 
but  a  short  period  of  darkness  in  St.  Petersburg,  but 
still  it  was  dark  enough  to  show  off  this  beautiful  dis 
play  to  great  advantage.  Around  the  edges  of  the 
buildings  lights  were  placed,  so  that  the  whole  outline 
of  the  palace  and  other  buildings  was  drawn,  as  it  were, 
in  blazing  fire.  In  the  surrounding  country  small  lights 
were  placed  so  close  together  that  they  blended,  one 
with  another,  producing  the  effect  of  burning  fields. 
The  whole  scene  was  fairy-like  and  enchanting  beyond 
description. 

In  the  steamer  which  conveyed  us  from  Cronstadt 
to  Peterhoff  was  Vice- Admiral  Boutikoff.  Fearing  that 
there  might  be  some  contretemps  touching  our  being 
properly  placed  at  this  grand  fete,  he  detailed  two  of 
his  officers  to  look  out  for  us,  and  directed  them  not  to 
let  us  out  of  their  sight  for  a  moment.  He  knew  that 
a  Master  of  Ceremonies  had  been  ordered,  upon  our 
arrival  at  the  palace,  to  take  us  in  charge  and  to  see 
that  we  should  want  for  nothing.  Boutikoff,  suspect 
ing  that  this  official  might  not  properly  be  attending  to 
the  duties  to  which  he  had  been  assigned,  said,  in  giving 
his  officers  his  directions  with  regard  to  us,  that  he  did 
not  propose  to  leave  us  to  the  tender  mercies  of  these 
courtiers.  He  was  a  grand  old  seaman,  and  was  held 
by  the  Emperor  in  the  highest  esteem.  When  we 
reached  our  apartments  at  the  palace  the  very  thing 

349 


MEMORIES    OF   A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

happened  that  the  Vice- Admiral  had  feared.  The  Mas 
ter  of  Ceremonies,  whose  name  had  been  given  to  us, 
was  not  to  be  found.  Meanwhile  Boutikoff  had  disap 
peared,  but  his  aids  busied  themselves  in  trying  to  find  our 
man.  It  so  happened  that  they  found  some  one  of  his 
name,  whom  they  brought  up  to  the  Admiral.  He  was 
dressed,  however,  more  like  a  cook  than  a  Master  of 
Ceremonies,  who  wears  a  coat  all  emblazoned  with  gold 
lace.  We  concluded  at  once  that  this  was  not  the  man. 
Meanwhile,  refreshments  were  brought  to  us  in  the 
shape  of  brandy-and-soda,  after  partaking  of  which  we 
felt  better,  but  the  Admiral  was  naturally  indignant  that 
the  official  who  had  been  told  off  to  us  was  neglecting 
his  duty,  and  that  we  were  the  sufferers.  The  young 
Russian  officers  who  were  still  with  us  rather  insisted 
upon  bringing  this  fellow  who  looked  like  a  cook  to 
the  Admiral  again,  but  I  advised  him  not  to  see  him,  for 
I  felt  sure  he  was  not  the  man.  Finally,  the  right  man 
appeared,  all  covered  over  with  gold  lace.  About  the 
same  time  appeared  upon  the  scene  Vice- Admiral  Bouti 
koff.  Worden,  full  of  indignation  at  the  way  this  fel 
low  had  neglected  us  and  his  duties,  was  about  to  ex 
press  himself  accordingly,  when  Boutikoff  stepped  up 
and  said,  "  Admiral,  leave  him  to  me,"  whereupon  he 
gave  him  such  a  rating  that  he  will  probably  never 
forget  it.  He  then  sent  him  about  his  business,  and  told 
him  that  the  American  officers  could  dispense  with  his 
services,  and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him,  and 
thus  ended  this  unpleasant  but  rather  amusing  episode. 
Amongst  other  festivities  in  honor  of  His  Majesty  of 
Sweden  was  a  ballet  in  the  open  air.  A  sort  of  tem 
porary  theatre  was  improvised  for  the  occasion,  and  a 
selected  corps  de  oallet  made  its  appearance.  This  was 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  spectacles  I  have  ever  beheld. 

250 


END    OF    FETE    AT    CRONSTADT 

I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  a  man  in  the  room  who 
did  not  wear  a  uniform,  and  the  women  were  gowned 
in  their  best  evening  attire.  I  think  the  performance 
lasted  about  an  hour.  In  the  interval  between  the  acts 
the  Emperor  came  over  to  where  the  Admiral  was,  and 
engaged  him  in  conversation  and  paid  him  every  atten 
tion.  Alexander  II.  was  one  of  the  handsomest  men  in 
Europe.  He  was  not  only  that,  but  he  was  an  exceed 
ingly  kind  man,  who  had  the  good  of  his  subjects  very 
much  at  heart,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  ameliorate 
their  condition.  He  was  assassinated,  however,  in  the 
most  brutal  manner,  and  in  this  way  was  illustrated  the 
remark  made  by  some  one  that  the  government  of 
Eussia  was  an  absolute  despotism  tempered  by  assas 
sination.  After  the  'ballet  we  all  adjourned  to  the  gar 
dens  of  the  palace ;  a  band  of  gypsies  from  the  Yolga 
had  been  brought  here  to  assist  in  the  festivities.  It 
was  an  uncanny  scene  that  presented  itself  as  we  ap 
proached  them.  They  were  seated  around  a  large  fire, 
over  which  was  suspended  a  caldron  containing  I  do 
not  know  what.  They  were  singing  the  songs  of  the 
land  from  which  they  came,  and  were  listened  to  by  a 
most  distinguished  and  attentive  audience.  The  Em 
peror  and  all  the  Imperial  family  stood  close  around 
them,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  the  wild  strains  of  their  pe 
culiar  music  with  all  their  hearts.  It  was  a  scene  which 
I  shall  never  forget,  for  it  made  a  deeper  impression  upon 
me  than  anything  I  saw  during  the  whole  of  that  most 
interesting  day.  This  was  the  last  act  of  the  drama. 

The  dawn  was  now  upon  us,  the  lights  were  fading 
away,  and  we  were  all  glad  enough  to  go  to  our  beds.  It 
was  the  intention  of  the  Admiral,  when  we  went  to  the 
festivities  at  Peterhoff,  to  avail  himself  of  the  invitation 
which  had  been  given  to  become  a  guest  at  the  palace, 

251 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

but  as  the  garden  scene  that  I  have  just  described  seemed 
to  be  the  end,  he  thought  we  might  as  well  return  to 
Cronstadt.  Amidst  the  great  mass  of  vehicles  of  every 
description  which  were  crowded  together,  ours  was  no 
where  to  be  seen,  so  we  jumped  into  the  first  one  that 
stopped  the  way  and  drove  down  to  the  port.  Fort 
unately  Vice- Admiral  Boutikoff's  yacht  was  still  there, 
and,  as  he  appeared  upon  the  scene  about  the  same  time 
with  us,  he  invited  us  to  return  with  him,  and  we  ac 
cepted  the  invitation.  We  reached  the  ship  in  time  for 
breakfast,  having  been  up  through  the  entire  night.  We 
were  glad  to  get  back,  but  more  glad  still  to  have  been 
present  at  this  most  interesting/^,  a  privilege  such  as 
rarely  falls  to  the  lot  of  any  one,  unless,  as  with  us,  the 
accidents  of  the  service  happen  to  throw  it  in  his  way. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

In  the  Baltic— Reception  at  Kiel— In  English  Waters— Old  Haunts  in 
London  —  Villefranche  —  Gayety  in  the  Riviera  —  Americans  at 
Nice — Wedding  on  the  Ship. 

WE  had  now  finished  our  work  at  Cronstadt,  which 
was  the  northern  limit  of  our  cruise.  Soon  after  the 
events  which  I  have  just  related  the  Franklin  and 
Alaska  got  under  way  and  sailed  for  Kiel.  I  found  the 
cruising  in  the  Baltic  extremely  interesting.  Without 
any  good  reason  for  thinking  so,  I  had  been  under  the 
impression  that  the  land  which  borders  that  sea  was 
bold  and  precipitous,  having  in  my  mind,  I  presume,  the 
high  land  which  encloses  the  fiords  of  Norway.  On 
the  contrary,  however,  in  the  part  in  which  we  cruised 
the  land  was  flat,  and  we  could  always  see  the  spires  of 
the  churches  in  the  cities  before  we  saw  the  surround 
ing  country.  They  had  a  very  curious  effect,  as  they 
would  seem  to  shoot  up  out  of  the  sea,  rising  higher  and 
higher,  until  the  churches  and  city  and  country  would 
all  suddenly  come  into  full  view.  We  found  that  the 
Franklin  drew  a  little  too  much  water  to  make  the 
cruising  altogether  comfortable ;  on  two  or  three  occa 
sions  she  grounded,  once  in  a  narrow,  intricate  channel, 
and  again  off  Copenhagen,  but  we  got  her  off  in  both 
cases  without  any  difficulty  or  injury  to  the  ship. 

At  Kiel  the  Admiral  was  received  with  the  same 
cordiality  which  had  been  accorded  to  him  at  Berlin. 
The  officer  commanding  the  Naval  Station  here  was  the 

253 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

same  Captain  Werner  who  had  assisted  in  arresting  the 
piratical  raid  of  the  Numancia  along  the  coast  of  Spain 
when  she  was  temporarily  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels, 
to  which  I  have  before  referred  in  the  course  of  this 
narrative.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  kind  than 
the  manner  in  which  he  treated  us,  putting  us  in  the 
way  of  seeing  everything  of  interest  in  this  very  inter 
esting  part  of  Germany. 

Kiel  is  in  Holstein,  and  came  into  possession  of  the 
German  nation  at  the  time  the  Schleswig-Holstein  ques 
tion  was  settled,  after  the  war  of  which  it  was  the 
cause.  This  question,  it  will  be  remembered,  agitated 
Europe  a  great  many  years,  and  concerning  it  some 
statesman  said  that  there  was  but  one  man  in  the  world 
who  had  ever  understood  it,  and  he  was  dead.  It  was 
worth  Germany's  while  to  fight  for  this  port,  for  it  is 
one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the  world.  When  we  were 
there  the  canal  between  it  and  the  North  Sea  was  then 
talked  about,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  any  steps  had 
been  then  taken  towards  its  construction,  though  to 
day  it  is  an  accomplished  fact.  The  country  around 
Kiel  bears  so  strong  a  resemblance  to  the  part  of  Penn 
sylvania  in  which  I  was  born  that  in  roaming  about  it 
I  was  constantly  reminded  of  York  County;  the  same 
kinds  of  farm-houses,  with  their  great  barns  attached  to 
them,  many  times  larger  than  the  houses  themselves, 
are  common  to  both  places.  Then,  again,  the  Holstein 
cattle,  the  trees,  and  even  the  people  themselves,  car 
ried  me  back  in  spirit  to  my  native  State.  After  all,  it 
is  not  very  strange  that  I  should  have  this  feeling,  for 
my  impression  is  that  the  settlers  of  that  part  of  the 
State  to  which  I  refer  came  from  this  very  part  of  Ger 
many,  and  it  is  but  natural  to  suppose  that  they  would 
impart  to  the  country  which  they  made  their  home 

254 


VICE-ADMIRAL    COMMEREL 

many  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Fatherland.  Captain 
Werner,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  above,  was  a  thorough 
German.  In  illustration  of  this  I  will  relate  a  little  in 
cident  about  him  which  will  show  that  at  least  he  pos 
sessed  one  of  the  characteristics  of  that  nation  in  a  high 
degree.  I  was  out  for  a  walk  one  day,  and  desiring  to 
reach  a  certain  point  I  asked  Werner  how  to  get  there. 
There  were  three  public-houses  between  where  we  stood 
and  the  point  I  desired  to  reach.  Pointing  to  the  first, 
he  said,  "  Do  you  see  that  house  ?  Well,  there  you 
stop  and  get  a  glass  of  beer ;"  then,  pointing  to  the  next, 
he  said,  "  Then  you  go  there  and  you  get  another  glass 
of  beer ;  and  so  to  the  third  place  for  another  glass,  and 
then,"  he  said,  "the  next  place,"  pointing  it  out,  "is 
the  place  you  wish  to  go  to."  Getting  the  glass  of 
beer  from  time  to  time  seemed  to  him  to  be  an  indis 
pensable  part  of  the  expedition. 

The  summer  of  1875  was  passing  rapidly  away,  and 
our  work  in  the  Baltic  seemed  to  be  completed.  We 
sailed  from  Kiel,  and  squared  away  for  Antwerp,  where 
the  Admiral  had  intended  to  touch  en  route  to  England ; 
but  bad  weather  appeared  to  be  coming  on,  and  the  pilot 
seemed  doubtful  about  his  ability  to  take  us  in,  so  with 
a  strong,  fair  wind  we  crossed  the  Channel,  passing  the 
Goodwin  Sands  en  route,  and  were  snugly  moored  in 
the  Downs  before  dark.  The  next  day  we  got  under 
way  and  went  to  Spithead.  The  Franklin  anchored  a 
long  way  from  Portsmouth,  and  boating  to  and  fro  at 
this  anchorage  was  very  tedious,  but  with  our  steam- 
launch,  which  was  an  excellent  sea-boat,  we  managed  to 
communicate  with  the  shore  with  more  or  less  comfort. 
Yice- Admiral  Commerel,  who  was  at  this  time  living  at 
Southsea,  was  an  old  friend  of  Admiral  Worden.  As  a 
Captain,  he  had  commanded  the  ship  which  conveyed 

255 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

the  remains  of  Mr.  Peabody  from  England  to  the  United 
States ;  had  then  with  his  ship  visited  Annapolis,  when 
Worden  was  Superintendent  of  the  Naval  Academy, 
and  it  was  there  that  a  friendship  was  formed  between 
them  which  has  lasted  up  to  the  present  time.  Com- 
merel  invited  the  Admiral,  Lieutenant  Soley,  and  me  to 
dine  and  pass  the  night  at  his  house.  I  shall  never  for 
get  how  delightfully  we  were  entertained,  both  by  Lady 
Commerel  and  himself.  They  both  possessed  charming 
personalities,  and  without  the  slightest  effort  at  enter 
taining  made  us  feel  at  once  as  if  we  were  in  our  own 
house.  Commerel  was  a  gallant  Naval  officer.  He 
came  ver}^  near  losing  his  life  in  Africa  during  the 
Kaffir  War.  A  bullet  struck  him  in  the  chest  and  pene 
trated  his  body,  but  it  seems  it  did  not  touch  a  vital 
part.  It  was,  however,  a  source  of  great  trouble  to 
him  as  time  went  on ;  he  told  me  that  it  would  wander 
about,  and  would  frequently  come  near  enough  to  the 
surface  to  be  extracted,  but  before  he  could  summon 
the  surgeon  it  would  be  off  again,  wandering  about 
as  before.  My  impression  is  that  he  finally  succeeded 
in  having  the  ball  extracted.  I  shall  have  occasion  to 
refer  to  Commerel  again,  as  we  met  at  Southamp 
ton;  I  was  then  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  European 
Station,  and  he  was  standing  for  Parliament  for  that 
district.  In  this  country  we  "run"  for  Congress,  in 
England  they  "  stand  "  for  Parliament. 

I  took  advantage  of  being  in  these  waters  to  visit 
Nelson's  Flag -ship,  the  Victory,  which  lies  at  Ports 
mouth  as  a  monument  to  him  and  to  Trafalgar.  In 
treading  her  decks  one  cannot  help  being  impressed 
with  the  momentous  consequences  to  England  of  the 
great  victory  in  which  she  bore  the  flag  of  the  world's 
greatest  Admiral,  for,  as  Mahan,  the  greatest  Naval  his- 

256 


VISIT    LONDON    AGAIN 

torian  of  any  age,  has  said,  "When  Trafalgar  was 
won,  England  was  saved,"  and  the  great  Napoleon  was 
obliged  to  divert  the  grand  army  which  he  had  col 
lected  for  the  invasion  of  her  shores,  and  console  him 
self,  as  best  he  could,  with  the  victory  of  Austerlitz. 
Soon  after  our  visit  to  Commerel  the  Admiral  left  for 
London,  and  I  took  the  ship  to  Southampton.  The 
Queen  was  at  this  time  at  Osborne.  I  passed  the  palace 
at  an  hour  too  early  to  salute,  but  I  have  regretted 
since  that  I  did  not  so  far  disregard  the  regulations 
upon  that  subject  as  to  do  so  anyhow,  for  I  feel  that 
too  much  honor  cannot  be  paid  to  the  woman  who,  by 
her  long,  beneficent,  and  prosperous  reign,  has  elicited 
the  admiration  of  the  whole  world.  At  Southampton  I 
anchored  off  Netley  Abbey,  and  soon  afterwards  went, 
myself,  to  London. 

I  have  been  so  often  in  that  great  City,  which  to  me 
is  the  most  interesting  in  the  world,  that  I  am  very 
much  mixed  up  as  to  what  I  did  and  what  I  saw  at  any 
especial  time.  Mr.  Benjamin  F.  Stevens  was  then,  as 
he  has  been  for  many  years,  the  United  States  Dispatch 
Agent  at  London.  One  of  his  most  faithful  assistants 
is  Mr.  Petherick.  To  these  two  gentlemen  all  Naval 
officers  who  go  to  London  must  feel  under  the  greatest 
obligation,  for  they  have  never  spared  themselves  in 
ministering  to  their  wants  and  in  aiding  them  in  every 
possible  way,  and  not  only  themselves,  but  their  wives 
and  families  as  well.  Petherick  would  accompany  me 
to  such  places  as  the  Cheshire  Cheese,  an  old  haunt 
of  Dr.  Johnson's,  and  the  Cock  Tavern,  where  Ben  Jon- 
son  used  to  hold  forth.  At  the  Cheshire  Cheese  I  sat 
in  the  same  seat  in  which  BoswelPs  hero  was  accus 
tomed  to  delight  not  only  his  biographer,  but  all  his 
hearers.  The  beefsteak  and  beer  were,  I  fancy,  served 
B  257 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

in  much  the  same  way  as  they  were  when  the  great 
poets  and  other  literary  characters  of  the  time  visited 
this  celebrated  haunt.  In  the  place  where  we  took  our 
luncheon  it  seemed  that  nothing  stronger  than  beer  was 
served  to  the  guests,  but  we  were  afterwards  shown  to 
a  room  up-stairs  where  we  partook  of  a  cork  and  fath 
om  of  clay,  which,  translated,  means  a  glass  of  Scotch 
whiskey  and  a  clay  pipe.  At  the  entrance  of  the 
Cheshire  Cheese  was  a  bar,  which  was  attended  by  a 
pretty  barmaid,  and  many  a  passer-by  on  the  Strand 
was  no  doubt  attracted  by  her  comely  face  and  tempt 
ed  as  he  went  along  to  stop  and  take  a  drink.  Another 
place  of  interest,  which  I  think  is  not  known  to  the  or 
dinary  tourist,  is  Crosby  Hall.  It  is  said  that  it  was 
formerly  the  palace  of  Richard  III.,  whether  truthfully 
so  or  not  I  am  unable  to  say.  It  was  an  excellent  res 
taurant,  however,  and  its  dainty  dishes  were  served  by 
young  and  handsome  English  girls,  generally  above  the 
medium  height.  With  their  pretty  white  caps  and 
aprons,  as  they  flitted  about  the  dining-hall,  they  cer 
tainly  made  it  a  most  attractive  place  to  gratify  one's 
palate  and  taste  for  the  beautiful  as  well.  The  Criterion 
had  a  reputation  for  its  good  dinners,  but  I  tried  it  and 
was  disappointed.  At  Simpson's  Tavern,  where  I  dined 
very  well,  it  was  the  custom,  if  one  wanted  a  piece  of 
roast-beef,  to  notify  the  waiter,  when  a  huge  piece  was 
wheeled  up  to  the  table  of  the  sitter  and  a  slice  was 
carved  from  it  then  and  there. 

I  do  not  think  that  I  visited  at  this  time  many  of  the 
main  objects  of  interest  in  which  London  abounds.  I 
said  to  Mr.  Stevens,  one  day,  that  I  desired  to  get  in 
formation  upon  a  certain  subject,  whereupon  he  replied, 
"  We  will  go  to  the  British  Museum."  While  there  I  went 
to  the  library,  and  in  looking  at  the  name  of  Franklin 

258 


CARRYING    EXHIBITS    TO    PHILADELPHIA 

I  lighted  upon  the  names  of  my  father,  my  brother,  and 
a  cousin  of  mine.  It  was  very  interesting,  but  it  was 
not  what  I  was  looking  for,  and  certainly  not  what  I 
expected  to  see.  What  struck  me  most  agreeably  while 
I  was  in  the  library  was  the  perfect  order  in  which 
everything  was  conducted,  how  every  one  writing  at 
the  numerous  desks  was  accommodated  by  the  attend 
ants,  in  furnishing  them  with  books  either  to  keep  with 
them  or  merely  to  refer  to  and  then  return.  Such  pro 
found  silence  reigned  throughout  that  one  could  have 
heard  a  pin  drop,  and  the  whole  machinery  of  the  es 
tablishment  worked  like  a  well-regulated  clock. 

The  autumn  of  1875  had  now  arrived.  The  follow 
ing  year  was  to  be  that  of  our  Centennial  Exhibition  at 
Philadelphia.  The  Government  had  decided  to  trans 
port,  free  of  expense,  the  works  of  art  of  American  art 
ists  who  desired  to  send  them  to  the  United  States.  In 
furtherance  of  this  determination,  the  Admiral  received 
an  order  to  send  the  Franklin  to  Cherbourg  to  pick  up 
these  works,  convey  them  to  Gibraltar,  and  there  trans 
fer  them  to  the  Government  store-ship  Supply,  which 
would  meet  the  Franklin  there  and  receive  them  on 
board.  The  Admiral,  of  course,  did  not  go  in  the  ship, 
but  directed  me  to  take  the  Franklin  to  Cherbourg, 
receive  the  articles,  and  then  proceed  to  Gibraltar,  and, 
further,  carry  out  the  orders  of  the  Department. 

I  accordingly  got  under  way  from  Southampton,  but, 
the  weather  being  foul  for  crossing  the  Channel,  I  an 
chored  for  the  night  at  St.  Helen's  Bay.  It  blew  hard, 
and,  as  the  wind  was  constantly  increasing,  I  let  go  a 
second  anchor  underfoot.  In  a  sudden  shift  of  wind, 
owing  to  some  oversight  in  reference  to  the  compressor 
the  cable  of  the  second  anchor  parted,  but  fortunately 
the  port -bower  brought  the  ship  up,  and  she  lay  very 

259 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

comfortably  at  single  anchor,  with  a  long  scope,  for  the 
remainder  of  the  night.  In  the  morning  Lieutenant- 
Commander  Nelson,  the  Navigator,  an  excellent  officer, 
who  had  entered  the  service  from  the  volunteer  ranks, 
went  to  work  with  hearty  good  -  will,  succeeded  in 
grappling  the  chain,  and  the  anchor  was  soon  again  at 
the  bows.  With  a  fair  wind  we  ran  over  to  Cherbourg, 
where  we  remained  only  long  enough  to  execute  the 
orders  of  the  Admiral,  when  we  sailed  for  Gibraltar.  I 
found  at  that  port  the  Supply,  Lieutenant-Commander 
Hayward,  to  which  I  transferred  the  works  of  art, 
which  she  conveyed  to  the  United  States.  Daring  this 
visit  to  Gibraltar  I  met  the  Duke  of  Connaught,  who 
was  stationed  there  as  an  officer  of  the  British  Army. 
He  was  a  dapper  young  fellow  at  that  time,  and  seemed 
to  be  a  favorite  with  his  comrades  of  the  Army,  and,  in 
deed,  generally  with  the  people  of  the  garrison.  I  had 
made  all  my  preparations  to  sail  on  Saturday,  and  con 
sequently  was  obliged  to  decline  an  invitation  to  dine 
with  him  on  that  day.  Although  he  occupied  a  sub 
ordinate  position  in  the  Army,  as  a  Prince  of  the  blood 
and  son  of  the  Queen  he  maintained  a  certain  amount 
of  state  in  Gibraltar,  and  entertained  in  a  manner  be 
coming  his  high  rank.  He  was  the  second  of  Victoria's 
children  that  I  had  thus  far  met. 

I  sailed  on  the  day  appointed  for  Villefranche,  where 
I  arrived  in  due  course  of  time,  and  secured  to  the  in 
shore  buoy,  which  is  so  close  that  one  can  almost  throw 
a  biscuit  on  shore.  Although  there  is  plenty  of  water 
at  Villefranche  for  the  largest  ships,  yet  we  always 
took  the  old  pilot  who  has  been  there  for  a  generation, 
and  who  could  always  give  us  information  with  refer 
ence  to  the  French  Fleet ;  for  if  it  happened  to  be  com 
ing  to  Villefranche  we  so  arranged  the  mooring  of  our 

260 


ENTERTAINMENTS    AT    NICE 

vessels  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  French  in  their  own 
port.  The  Admiral  returned  from  England  soon  after 
we  arrived,  and  took  up  his  quarters  at  Nice.  We  had 
been  cruising  very  actively  since  leaving  the  Tagus, 
where  Admiral  Worden  had  hoisted  his  flag,  and  now 
hoped  to  have  a  season  of  rest,  more  especially  as  the 
winter  was  close  upon  us,  when  the  ships  rarely  cruise 
unless  there  is  some  especial  reason  which  might  render 
it  important  to  do  so.  The  gales  in  the  Mediterranean, 
in  the  winter  season,  are  strong  and  frequent,  and  I 
remember  that  Yice- Admiral  Sir  Yelverton  Hastings, 
R.  N.,  advised  Admiral  Case  not  to  permit  his  ships  to 
be  battered  about  in  the  winter  unless  there  was  some 
good  reason  for  it,  but  to  keep  them  in  port,  so  that 
they  would  be  ready  for  service  in  the  spring,  when  he 
most  required  them. 

Nice,  as  every  one  knows,  is  the  city  of  which  Yille- 
franche,  it  might  be  said,  is  the  port.  It  was  always 
very  gay  when  the  ships  were  there  in  the  winter,  and 
they  added  not  a  little  to  the  festivities  which  were 
constantly  taking  place  both  ashore  and  afloat.  There 
w^ere  two  clubs,  the  "  Cercle  Mediterranee"  and  the 
"  Cercle  Massena"  to  both  of  which  the  officers  were 
always  invited.  Then  there  were  dinners  and  evening- 
parties  at  private  houses,  so  that  there  was  no  end  of 
gayety  going  on  all  the  time.  By  far  the  most  enjoy 
able,  however,  of  all  these  entertainments  were  those 
given  on  board  the  Flag-ship  at  Yillefranche.  An  in 
vitation  to  these  matinees  was  always  eagerly  sought, 
and  all  the  gay  world  of  Nice  would  flock  in  great  num 
bers  to  these  enjoyable  dances ;  and  not  only  from  Nice, 
but  they  would  come  from  Cannes  and  Mentone,  for  the 
fame  of  these  entertainments  had  spread  all  along  the 
Riviera. 

261 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Our  Consul  at  Nice  at  this  time  was  Mr.  Yeasey.  He 
was  admirably  adapted  to  the  position — a  peculiar  one, 
in  which  good  manners  and  good  address  were  very 
large  factors,  and  the  kind  of  people  with  which  he 
would  have  dealings  were  generally  those  accustomed 
to  be  treated  with  politeness  and  consideration.  Such 
qualifications  Mr.  Yeasey  possessed  in  a  very  high  de- 
give,  and  they  were  thoroughly  appreciated  by  all  who 
came  in  contact  with  him.  A  rough  and  ill-mannered 
man,  such  as  we  often  see  in  our  Consulates,  would  be 
very  much  out  of  place  in  the  American  colony  of  Nice, 
and  amongst  those  of  our  countrymen  who  pass  through 
this  pleasant  winter  watering-place  as  they  flit  along 
the  Biviera.  One  of  the  most  agreeable  and  interesting- 
American  families  residing  at  Nice  at  that  time  was  that 
of  Mr.  Gignoux,  a  naturalized  American  citizen,  who 
had  lived  for  many  years  abroad,  and  finally  settled 
down  at  Nice.  He  married  Miss  Christmas,  who,  I  think, 
was  from  Brooklyn.  They  had  a  number  of  children, 
three  of  whom  were  living  with  them  at  this  time.  One 
was  a  widow,  Mrs.  Matthiessen,  a  lovely  woman,  who 
devoted  most  of  her  time  to  good  works,  and  was  very 
highly  esteemed  by  the  entire  community.  There  were 
also  two  unmarried  daughters,  who  were  extremely 
handsome,  and  great  favorites  in  the  society  of  Nice 
in  those  days.  Many  were  the  pleasant  entertainments 
that  we  had  at  the  house  of  this  charming  family,  whose 
hospitality  will  be  long  remembered  by  those  who  were 
there  at  the  time  about  which  I  write.  One  of  the 
most  interesting  characters  residing  there  then  was 
Madame  Borell ;  she  was  a  member  of  the  Astor  fam 
ily  ;  had  been  a  Maid  of  Honor  to  the  Queen  of  Hol 
land,  and  had  now  taken  up  her  residence  at  Nice.  She 
entertained  very  handsomely,  and  it  was  a  privilege,  as 

262 


AN    INTERRUPTED    WEDDING 

well  as  a  great  pleasure,  to  be  a  guest  at  her  delightful 
dinners.  Amongst  others  who  passed  the  winter  of  '75 
and  '76  at  Nice  was  the  family  of  Mr.  Storrs  Willis,  a 
brother  of  N.  P.  "Willis,  who  was,  like  his  brother,  a 
highly  cultivated  man  of  considerable  literary  ability; 
it  consisted  of  Mrs.  Willis,  one  of  the  handsomest  women 
of  her  day,  and  three  young  ladies.  They  were  charm 
ing  girls  at  that  time,  and  are  charming  women  now. 
They  all  married  officers  of  the  Franklin.  Commander 
Emory  is  the  husband  of  one  of  them,  Lieutenant  Ward 
of  another,  and  Mr.  Broadhead  of  the  youngest.  The 
last  named  of  these  gentlemen  resigned  some  years  ago, 
but  the  other  two  are  still  in  the  service,  and  belong  to 
the  highest  type  of  Naval  officers. 

Ward  was  married  on  board  the  Franklin,  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Nice.  I  was  a  witness  to  the  civil  mar 
riage,  which  took  place  before  that  of  the  Church,  by 
the  prelate  whom  I  have  just  named.  On  the  appointed 
day,  which  opened  most  auspiciously,  the  marriage-bell 
was  in  place,  the  Archbishop  had  taken  his  stand  in 
front  of  the  happy  couple,  the  guests  were  all  assembled 
in  their  rich  gowns,  and  the  ceremony  had  begun,  when, 
as  if  a  cloud  had  burst  immediately  over  our  heads,  the 
rain  poured  down  in  such  torrents  upon  the  awning,  and 
so  flooded  the  decks,  that  the  ladies  were  obliged  to 
trundle  their  handsome  dresses,  almost  in  the  time  it 
takes  to  tell  it,  to  the  deck  below.  The  whole  scene  was 
transferred  to  the  main-deck,  where  the  ceremony  was 
completed.  This  unlooked-for  interruption  did  not, 
however,  mar  the  jollity  of  the  occasion,  for  every  one 
looked  upon  it — inconvenient  as  it  \vas — as  a  good  joke. 

No  Naval  officer  who  was  at  Nice  about  this  time  can 
fail  to  appreciate  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Edward  Yial,  who 
furnished  our  ships  with  coal,  and  through  whom  most 

263 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

of  the  business  of  the  fleet  was  transacted.  He  not  only 
attended  to  the  public  business,  but  was  untiring  in  his 
efforts  to  make  the  officers  and  their  families  comfort 
able  and  happy.  Madame  Yial  was  a  handsome  woman, 
member  of  a  noble  Italian  family,  of  agreeable,  spright 
ly  manners.  She  survived  her  husband,  who  died  a  few 
years  ago,  and  has  since  consoled  herself  by  marrying 
again,  &prefet  of  one  of  the  French  provinces. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

J.  A.  MacGahan — In  Lisbon — The  Channel  Fleet — Lord  Lytton — 
A  Country  Visit — Captain  Mahan — Admiral  Luce — Return  to  the 
Mediterranean— On  Leave  in  Paris — A  Sudden  Recall — In  Hurry 
to  the  East. 

OUR  sojourn  at  this  pleasant  resting-place  was  soon  to 
be  brought  to  an  end.  Another  Cuban  war  cloud  ap 
peared  upon  the  horizon,  and  the  Admiral  was  directed 
to  remove  his  command  from  the  Mediterranean  and 
proceed  to  Lisbon,  there  to  await  the  course  of  events ; 
what  the  trouble  at  this  time  was  has  passed  from  my 
mind,  but  it  terminated,  as  all  the  others  have  done,  in 
an  amicable  adjustment  with  Spain.  It  was  now  the 
spring  of  18T6.  We  sailed  for  Lisbon,  touching  at  Gib 
raltar  en  route;  the  passage  was  uneventful,  and  in  due 
time  we  reached  our  destination.  I  took  with  me  in 
the  cabin  the  war  correspondent  of  the  New  York 
Herald,  whom  I  had  known  before,  as  he  was  a  passen 
ger  in  the  Wabash  when  I  took  her  to  Key  West,  more 
than  two  years  before.  This  was  J.  A.  MacGahan,  a 
very  able  man,  whose  life  had  been  full  of  adventure, 
for  he  always  took  his  life  in  his  hands  and  braved 
every  danger  to  accomplish  his  ends.  He  has  written 
two  charming  books,  the  result  of  his  experiences — one 
is  called  Campaigning  on  the  Oxus,  and  the  other  Under 
the  Northern  Lights  •  the  former  relates  to  what  hap 
pened  in  the  Russian  Army  when  he  accompanied  it, 
and  the  other  to  what  he  saw  in  the  Jeannette  when  she 

265 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

went  in  search  of  the  log-books  of  Sir  John  Franklin's 
Expedition.  He  was  one  of  the  favorite  correspondents 
of  Bennett,  who  always  felt  that  whatever  work  he  laid 
out  for  him  to  do  would  be  thoroughly  well  done.  I 
enjoyed  the  society  of  MacGahan  very  much,  for  he  had 
many  interesting  experiences  to  relate,  as  he  had  been 
in  many  lands  and  seen  many  strange  sights.  When  we 
reached  Lisbon,  he  left  us.  I  missed  him  very  much, 
for  it  left  a  great  gap  in  the  mess,  which  had  consisted 
only  of  him  and  me. 

We  made  a  long  stay  at  Lisbon.  The  war  cloud 
hung  in  tfc  e  sky  for  some  time  before  it  disappeared  al 
together,  and  we  remained  quietly  at  anchor  in  the 
Tagus.  Our  Minister  at  Lisbon  was  Mr.  Moran,  an  ac 
complished  and  competent  official.  He  had  served  a 
long  time  as  Secretary  of  Legation  in  London,  and  had 
there  attained  a  great  proficiency  in  diplomacy,  and  had 
been  a  great  favorite  in  London  society.  He  told  me 
that  he  had  collected  many  volumes  of  matter  which  he 
intended  to  present  to  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  with  a 
request  that  it  should  not  be  published  until  thirty  years 
after  his  death.  I  never  could  quite  see  how  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania  could  publish  such  material  at  all.  I 
passed  a  good  deal  of  my  time  at  the  Legation,  and 
never  tired  of  hearing  Moran  relate  his  experiences  of 
his  many  years  of  diplomatic  life.  He  was  suffering  at 
this  time  with  a  sort  of  palsy  of  the  left  arm  and  hand, 
which  not  only  affected  his  general  health,  but  his  spirits 
as  well.  He  bore  it  all,  however,  with  manly  patience. 
His  death,  which  took  place  some  years  ago,  was  no 
doubt  hastened  by  this  malady,  for  he  was  not  an  old 
man  when  he  died. 

The  British  Channel  Fleet  happened  in  while  we 
were  there.  It  was  commanded  by  Sir  Beauchamp 

266 


SIR    BEAUCHAMP    SEYMOUR 

Seymour,  whose  sobriquet  was  "  The  Swell  of  the 
Ocean."  He  was  an  excellent  Admiral  and  a  most 
charming  man.  I  dined  with  him  several  times  on 
board  his  Flag-ship,  and  found  him  always  a  most  ge 
nial  and  courtly  gentleman.  There  was  a  good  deal  of 
dining  and  wining  going  on,  as  there  always  is  when 
British  and  American  Squadrons  find  themselves  to 
gether  in  port  for  any  length  of  time.  Admiral  Sey 
mour's  dinners  were  very  handsome  affairs,  as  those  of 
British  Admirals  always  are ;  he  was  a  man  of  excel 
lent  taste,  and  his  dinners  showed  it.  He  was  devoted  to 
his  profession,  and  liked  to  talk  about  matters  relating 
to  it.  I  remember  asking  him  once  if  he  did  not  like 
our  expressions  "  line  "  and  "  column  "  better  than  theirs 
of  "  line  abreast "  and  "  line  ahead,"  saying  that  I 
thought  the  former  a  more  military  way  of  expressing 
the  same  idea.  He  replied  that  there  was  a  good  deal 
to  be  said  on  both  sides  of  that  question,  but  did  not 
seem  to  care  to  discuss  it.  Sir  Beauchamp  Seymour 
commanded  the  British  Fleet  at  the  bombardment  of 
Alexandria,  and  was  afterwards  created  Lord  Alcester. 
I  do  not  think  I  ever  met  him  after  we  parted  at  Lis 
bon.  When  I  was  last  in  London  he  wrote  me  a  note 
enclosing  a  card  for  the  Senior  United  Service  Club, 
which  gave  me  the  entree  of  that  comfortable  establish 
ment  during  the  whole  of  my  official  sojourn  in  and 
about  Great  Britain.  I  had  some  correspondence  with 
him  when  I  was  President  of  the  International  Marine 
Conference,  but  I  lost  sight  of  him  soon  after  that. 

In  the  fleet  under  Seymour's  command  was  Captain 
Lyon,  afterwards  Admiral  Lyon.  I  remember  he  told 
me  that  it  was  a  custom  of  his,  or  of  the  Service — I  am 
not  sure  which — for  the  Commanding  Officer  to  invite 
all  the  officers  of  every  rank  and  grade  to  dine  with  him 

267 


MEMORIES    OF    A   REAR-ADMIRAL 

on  what  they  call  Commission-day — that  is,  the  anni 
versary  of  the  day  en  which  the  ship  was  put  in  com 
mission.  He  told  me  that  he  had  just  dined  fifty-four 
officers,  including  in  the  number  the  Boatswain,  Car 
penter,  Gunner,  and  Sail-maker.  I  thought  this  was 
doing  pretty  well  for  aristocratic  old  England.  In  the 
Navy  of  democratic  America  I  do  not  believe  such  a 
thing  has  ever  occurred.  I  think,  however,  it  is  a  very 
pretty  custom,  and  I  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not 
obtain  with  us.  When  Lyon  came  to  see  me  on  board 
the  Franklin  he  looked  about  my  cabin  with  a  view  of 
seeing  how  many  people  I  could  dine,  for  he  seemed 
full  of  the  project  which  he  had  just  carried  out  in  his 
own  ship. 

Lord  Lytton  was  at  this  time  the  British  Minister  at 
the  Court  of  Portugal.  As  every  one  knows,  he  was 
the  "Owen  Meredith"  of  Lucile.  He  lived  in  beautiful 
style  in  Lisbon,  every  part  of  his  house  showing  evidence 
of  his  exquisite  taste.  On  entering  the  hall  the  first 
thing  which  presented  itself  to  the  eye  was  a  sort  of 
receptacle  filled  with  about  a  hundred  yellow  gourds  of 
different  kinds.  The  effect  was  very  startling,  and  it 
seemed  odd  and  strange,  but  nevertheless  it  produced  a 
most  pleasing  impression  upon  the  eye.  His  dining- 
room  walls  were  so  covered  with  rare  china  that  one 
could  hardly  see  them  at  all,  and  the  whole  establish 
ment  was  filled  with  things  of  beauty.  He  gave  our 
Admiral  a  handsome  dinner,  to  which  I  had  the  honor 
of  being  invited.  At  the  time  I  thought  it  was  altogether 
the  most  beautiful  dinner  I  had  ever  attended.  Every 
thing  was  delightfully  cooked,  and  served  in  excellent 
taste,  and,  the  wines  were  as  good  as  could  be  had  any 
where.  The  only  lady  present  was  Lady  Lytton  herself, 
and,  besides  our  Admiral,  the  only  distinguished  guest  was 

268 


LORD    AND    LADY    LYTTON 

Sir  Beauchamp  Seymour,  the  Admiral  I  have  referred 
to  who  commanded  the  British  Channel  Fleet.  The 
dinner  passed  off  most  pleasantly.  Lady  Lytton,  at 
the  proper  time,  arose  and  retired  to  the  drawing-room. 
The  men  sat  for  some  time,  as  was  the  English  custom 
at  that  day,  and  continued  their  wine-drinking.  Finally, 
when  I  was  quite  sure  we  had  all  had  enough,  Lord 
Lytton  said,  "  I  know  that  you  are  all  dying  for  a 
smoke  ;  whoever  wants  to  smoke,  follow  me."  Where 
upon  we  all  rose  from  the  table  and  followed  him  out 
of  the  dining-room.  To  my  surprise,  he  ushered  us  into 
the  drawing-room  and  said,  "  Here  is  where  we  smoke ; 
Lady  Lytton  likes  it,  and  we  always  smoke  here."  Lady 
Lytton  smiled  sweetly,  acknowledging  the  truth  of  what 
her  husband  had  just  said,  and  we  all  sat  down  to  our 
cigars  and  coffee.  Lady  Lytton  was  a  charming,  hand 
some  woman,  in  every  way  fitted  to  be  the  wife  of  a 
man  so  distinguished  as  Lord  Lytton  then  was,  and  who 
was  further  to  occupy  positions  of  great  trust  and  re 
sponsibility,  first  as  Viceroy  of  India  and  afterwards  as 
Ambassador  to  France.  Lord  Lytton  conceived  a  great 
liking  for  Admiral  Worden,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  his 
society  very  much.  He  frequently  visited  the  Franklin, 
and  manifested  his  preference  for  him  in  many  ways. 
During  our  stay  in  the  Tagus,  Lytton  was  appointed  by 
Disraeli  Yiceroy  of  India.  At  first  he  pleaded  ill- 
health,  and  was  rather  averse  to  accepting  the  position, 
high  and  honorable  as  it  was ;  but,  notwithstanding,  the 
Premier  insisted  upon  his  going,  and  he  finally  accepted. 
He  was  obliged  to  go  off  hurriedly  to  England,  and 
leave  Lady  Lytton  in  Lisbon  to  follow  in  a  few  days. 
On  the  day  that  she  sailed  Worden  went  himself  in  his 
barge  to  the  landing  and  escorted  her  to  the  steamer. 
When  Lytton  was  appointed  to  India  he  had  not  yet 

269 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

reached  a  very  high  position  in  the  Diplomatic  Corps, 
but  Disraeli  knew  his  man,  and  felt  assured  that  he 
possessed  the  very  qualifications  which  would  fit  him 
to  fill  with  credit  that  exalted  position.  I  was  told  by 
a  British  Admiral  about  this  time  that  the  Viceroy  of 
India  could  spend  from  his  salary  all  that  was  proper 
and  necessary  and  yet  at  the  end  of  his  term  of  office 
easily  have  saved  fifty  thousand  pounds. 

In  the  country,  at  some  distance  from  Lisbon,  at  this 
time  was  living  a  Major  Smith,  formerly  of  the  British 
Army.  He  also  took  a  great  fancy  to  the  Admiral. 
He  had  resigned  from  the  Army,  and  was  afterwards 
appointed  Consul  at  Lisbon.  At  this  time  he  was  living 
at  a  pretty  place  he  had  purchased,  which  was  formerly 
a  convent,  and  was  operating  a  paper-mill.  His  wife, 
a  handsome  and  interesting  woman,  was  the  daughter 
of  an  Admiral  in  the  British  Navy — I  think  Admiral 
Keppel.  Major  Smith  invited  the  Admiral,  Lieutenant 
Soley,  and  me  to  visit  him  at  his  home,  which  was  not 
far  from  the  lines  of  Torres  Yedras.  We  could  not 
resist  such  an  alluring  opportunity  of  seeing  something 
of  inland  Portugal.  The  convent,  transformed  into  a 
dwelling-house,  possessed  every  comfort  that  can  be 
found  in  any  well-regulated  country  gentleman's  estab 
lishment  in  England,  and,  although  there  was  not  much 
to  do,  there  was  real  enjoyment  in  passing  a  few  days 
in  this  hospitable  mansion.  The  Major  was  a  good 
farmer,  and  his  table  was  always  loaded  with  the  choic 
est  products  of  the  kitchen,  garden,  and  dairy.  We  all 
appreciated  the  delicious  cream  and  butter  which  the 
latter  produced.  We  enjoyed  this  visit  of  three  or  four 
days  very  much,  and  returned  to  the  ship  with  a  lively 
appreciation  of  the  Major's  hospitality. 

The  only  American  woman  that  resided  at  Lisbon  at 

270 


CAPTAIN    MAHAN 

this  time  was  Madame  Susa  Lobo.  She  had  married, 
some  years  before,  the  Portuguese  Minister  of  that 
name,  then  representing  his  country  at  "Washington.  I 
think  her  name  had  been  Allen  before  she  married.  I 
used  to  see  her  from  time  to  time,  and  enjoyed  her 
sprightly  and  animated  conversation  very  much.  Her 
husband  was  not  employed  at  this  time.  A  few  years 
afterwards  I  met  her  in  the  United  States ;  she  had  fall 
en  into  ill-health,  and  I  think  soon  afterwards  died.  I 
have  always  remembered  her  as  an  agreeable  and  inter 
esting  woman. 

It  was  during  this  visit  to  Lisbon  that  I  met  Captain 
Mahan  for  the  second  time.  My  first  meeting  with 
him  was  in  the  autumn  of  1863,  when  I  was  Chief  of 
Staff  to  Commodore  Bell ;  he  came  from  the  North,  and 
reported  for  duty  on  board  the  Seminole.  I  suggested  to 
him  that  there  was  a  vacancy  in  the  MonongaheLa,  and 
that  Bell  might,  if  he  were  asked,  transfer  him  to  her ; 
he  did  ask,  but  was  refused — an  officer  named  Prentiss 
was  ordered  to  her,  and  was  killed  at  Mobile.  MahaYi, 
in  a  letter  to  me,  says,  "  Perhaps  we  exchanged  destinies." 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that,  in  my  opinion,  Cap 
tain  Mahan  is  the  foremost  writer  of  Naval  history  that 
the  world  has  ever  produced.  He  is  not  only  a  clear 
and  logical  writer  about  every  matter  connected  with 
that  interesting  subject,  but  his  illustrations  mark  him 
as  possessing  literary  ability  of  the  highest  order.  I 
will  quote,  in  corroboration  of  what  I  have  stated,  two 
or  three  examples.  He  says  of  the  growth  of  the 
French  Navy  when  fostered  by  Colbert :  "  Yet  all  this 
wonderful  growth,  forced  by  the  action  of  the  Govern 
ment,  withered  away  like  Jonah's  gourd  when  the  Gov 
ernment's  favor  was  withdrawn."  Again:  "The  sea 
power  of  England,  therefore,  was  not  merely  in  the 

271 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

great  Navy  with  which  we  too  commonly  and  exclu 
sively  associate  it.  France  had  such  a  Navy  in  1688, 
and  it  shrivelled  away  like  a  leaf  in  the  fire."  Then 
again,  in  speaking  of  the  power  of  Napoleon :  "  Great 
as  was  the  power  of  Napoleon,  it  ceased,  like  that  of 
certain  wizards,  when  it  reached  the  water."  These  ex 
pressions  are  so  indelibly  fixed  in  my  mind  that  I  doubt 
if  I  shall  ever  forget  them.  Mahan's  Life  of  Nelson, 
which  I  have  just  read,  is  so  interesting,  and  differs  so 
much  from  what  has  hitherto  been  written  concerning 
that  illustrious  Admiral,  that  I  trust  he  will  continue 
his  labors  until  he  has  presented  us  with  the  lives  and 
characters  of  all  the  great  Naval  heroes  known  to  his 
tory. 

In  the  preface  to  his  second  work  on  Sea  Power,  Ma- 
han  says,  in  speaking  of  himself :  "  That  the  author  has 
done  so  is  due  wholly  and  exclusively  to  the  Naval  War 
College,  which  was  instituted  to  promote  such  studies. 
If  further  success  attend  his  present  venture,  it  is  his 
hope  that  this  avowal  may  help  to  assure  the  long  un 
certain  fortunes  of  the  College  to  which  —  and  to  its 
founder,  Eear- Admiral  Stephen  B.  Luce — he  gratefully 
acknowledges  his  indebtedness  for  guiding  him  into  a 
path  he  would  not  himself  have  found."  I  make  this 
brief  quotation  from  Mahan  to  show  what  a  high  ap 
preciation  he  had  of  Admiral  Luce,  and  also  that  it  may 
give  me  an  opportunity  to  say  how  entirely  I  am  in  ac 
cord  with  his  idea  of  this  distinguished  Naval  officer. 
Luce  was  one  of  my  classmates,  who  early  in  his  career 
gave  promise  of  what  he  would  achieve  in  the  future. 
He  was  a  great  reader  and  student,  and  when  he  was 
still  quite  young  published  Luce's  Seamanship,  which 
was  for  years  the  text -book  at  the  Naval  Academy 
on  that  important  branch  of  the  profession.  He  after- 

272 


LEAVE    LISBON    FOR    THE    MEDITERRANEAN 

wards  became  interested  in  the  training  system,  and  did 
more  than  any  one  else  to  establish  it  upon  a  firm  basis. 
One  day,  when  we  were  together  in  Washington,  he 
told  me  that  he  desired  to  have  a  conversation  with  me 
upon  a  subject  to  which  he  had  been  giving  a  great 
deal  of  thought ;  it  was  that  of  the  importance  of  the 
study  of  grand  strategy  by  Naval  officers.  I  thoroughly 
agreed  with  him  in  all  he  had  to  say  upon  the  impor 
tant  subject  which  he  had  so  much  at  heart.  He  de 
sired  to  have  established  a  War  College  at  which  Naval 
officers  could  take  a  post-graduate  course,  and  he  battled 
away  against  adverse  criticism  and  serious  opposition 
until  his  idea  became  embodied  and  the  College  was  a 
fixed  fact. 

I  regard  Luce  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished  Naval 
officers  this  country  has  produced,  and  am  glad  to  be 
able  to  place  my  opinion  on  record  here. 

There  was  now  no  longer  any  reason  why  we  should 
not  return  to  the  Mediterranean.  Diplomacy,  instead 
of  war,  had  brought  our  differences  with  Spain  to  a  suc 
cessful  termination.  Accordingly  we  left  the  Tagus, 
and  soon  found  ourselves  moored  at  the  Flag -ship's 
buoy  in  Yillefranche.  My  cruise  of  three  years  would 
now  soon  be  completed,  and  I  informed  the  Navy  De 
partment  that  I  desired  to  be  relieved  when  I  had  seen 
the  usual  amount  of  service  afloat.  When  Admiral 
Worden  knew  of  my  application,  he  was  so  earnest  in 
his  desire  that  I  should  recall  it  that  he  caused  his  Flag 
Lieutenant  to  write  to  me  expressing  his  strong  desire 
that  I  should  continue  to  command  the  Fra/rMin  after 
my  three  years  had  expired,  suggesting  at  the  same 
time  that  I  should  take  a  long  leave  of  absence  in  Eu 
rope  and  then  return  to  my  command.  When  I  found 
that  the  Admiral  had  the  matter  so  much  at  heart,  I 
s  273 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

felt  that  I  could  no  longer  insist  upon  my  application, 
and  consented  to  remain. 

Having  now  determined  to  continue  the  cruise,  I  was 
granted  a  leave  of  absence,  and  left  J^ice  for  Paris,  in 
tending  to  be  absent  from  the  ship  for  a  month  or  more. 
I  took  up  my  quarters  at  the  Grand  Hotel  du  Louvre, 
which  was  at  that  time  to  my  mind  a  delightful  hotel. 
The  table  d'hote  was  excellent,  and  each  guest  was  fur 
nished  with  a  large  carafe  of  excellent  Macon  wine, 
and  if  that  gave  out  he  was  supplied  with  another. 
The  price  for  all  this  was  only  six  francs.  A  dame  de 
comptoir  sat  at  a  table  near  the  door  of  the  dining  salon, 
and  for  the  consideration  of  the  above-named  price  fur 
nished  each  guest  with  a  ticket  which  gave  him  the  en 
tree.  There  were  two  long  tables  parallel  to  each  other, 
which  stretched  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  salon. 
These  tables  were  nearly  always  filled,  and,  as  the  room 
was  brilliantly  lighted,  the  scene  presented  was  very  at 
tractive.  The  dinner  was  served  in  courses,  and,  as  it 
was  always  good,  it  was  not  difficult  to  imagine  one's  self 
at  a  well-ordered  dinner-party.  I  amused  myself  stroll 
ing  about  Paris,  and  visited  the  various  objects  of  in 
terest,  so  many  of  which  present  themselves  in  this  gay 
capital.  I  had  never  seen  the  Jardin  Malille,  of  which 
so  much  has  been  said  and  written,  so  one  evening  I 
drifted  into  that  far-famed  place  of  amusement.  It 
happened  to  be  an  off  night,  and  there  was  no  dancing. 
I  had  expected  to  see  that  of  which  I  had  heard  so 
much — I  mean,  to  see  one  of  the  dancing-girls  kick  off 
the  hat  of  her  partner  as  they  whirled  around  in  the 
mazes  of  the  dance,  etc.  —  but  the  whole  scene  at  the 
garden  was  as  tame  as  it  could  be,  and  I  felt  very  much 
disappointed  at  not  having  seen  the  great  Parisian  sight. 

I  was  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of 

274 


ORDERED    TO    SALONICA 

Europe's  gay  capital,  for  I  had  been  there  not  more 
than  a  week  when  I  received  a  telegram  from  the  Ad 
miral  directing  me  to  join  the  ship  without  delay.  The 
occasion  of  this  abrupt  ending  to  my  leave  of  absence 
was  some  difficulty  which  had  arisen  in  Salonica,  which 
necessitated  the  presence  there  of  the  Admiral  with  the 
Flag-ship  at  once.  I  left  Paris  immediately,  and  the 
moment  I  joined  the  ship  we  got  under  way  for  the 
above-named  port.  It  seems  that  some  fanatical  Mus 
sulmans  had  attacked  and  killed  a  Consul  of  some  na 
tion,  and  in  the  broil  our  Consulate  had  in  some  way 
become  involved,  so  that  it  was  necessary  for  us  to 
show  a  force  as  quickly  as  possible  at  that  point.  We 
lost  so  little  time  in  getting  there  that  I  carried  with 
me  later  dates  from  Paris  than  those  carried  by  the 
regular  mails.  The  Mediterranean  was  as  quiet  as  a 
mill-pond  during  the  entire  trip,  and  the  Franklin  did 
her  best.  In  all  my  cruising  in  that  sea  I  have  never 
known  the  scenery  to  appear  so  beautiful.  As  we  passed 
through  the  Straits  of  Messina  the  sun  was  getting  low, 
and  would  apparently  set  behind  a  hill,  when  suddenly 
it  would  rise  to  us  again,  at  the  same  time  shedding  the 
loveliest  coloring  on  all  the  surrounding  country.  It 
was  one  of  those  pictures  that  makes  an  impression 
never  to  be  forgotten. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

Life  in  Smyrna — At  Villefranche— Mayoral  Receptions — Monte  Carlo 
—After  "Boss"  Tweed  — Return  Home  — An  Ugly  Time  on  the 
Franklin — Origin  of  a  True  Story —  "Ben"  and  the  "Meadow- 
larks." 

THE  Salonica  difficulty  was  soon  arranged,  but  there 
was  trouble  brewing  in  the  East,  and  the  Admiral  de 
cided  to  remain  in  those  waters  for  the  present.  We 
went  to  Smyrna,  where  we  lay  at  anchor  for  a  consider 
able  period.  The  Admiral  went  to  Constantinople  to 
consult  with  the  Minister,  Mr.  Maynard.  He  was  obliged 
to  go  by  merchant  steamer,  as  a  ship  of  the  size  of  the 
Franklin  was  not  permitted  to  pass  the  Dardanelles. 
Turkey  was  in  trouble,  as  she  always  is.  Abdul- Aziz 
was  found  dead  in  his  bath,  and  there  seemed  to  be 
some  confusion  about  the  succession.  I  heard  a  good 
deal  of  talk  about  the  Sheik  ul  Islam  and  the  Softas,  but 
I  do  not  now  know  what  it  all  meant ;  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  Turkish  politics  when  one  is  on  the  spot, 
but  still  more  difficult  to  have  an  appreciation  of  it  af 
ter  a  lapse  of  years.  The  joke  of  the  day,  I  remember, 
was  that  "  the  late  Sultan  was  no  longer  Abdul- Aziz, 
but  Abdul  as  was." 

The  Admiral  returned  from  Constantinople,  but  af 
fairs  in  the  East  were  so  unsettled  that  he  decided  to 
remain  some  time  longer  in  Smyrna.  It  was  a  dull,  un 
interesting  place.  One  could  not  venture  outside  of  the 
limits  of  the  City  without  risking  an  attack  from  brig- 


LEAVE    SMYRNA    FOR    VILLEFRANCHE 

ands.  The  ruins  of  the  great  Temple  of  Diana  of  the 
Ephesians  are  not  far  from  the  City,  but  even  after 
one  takes  the  risk  of  seeing  its  site  there  is  nothing  but 
that  to  repay  him,  for  scarcely  a  vestige  of  the  ruin  re 
mains.  As  we  lay  at  Smyrna,  day  after  day,  the  life  be 
came  very  tiresome,  and  we  all  longed  for  the  time 
when  we  would  leave  the  fez,  the  veiled  women,  and 
the  dirt  of  the  East  far  behind  us.  The  condition  of 
affairs  soon  afterwards  became  such  that  its  bearing 
upon  the  interests  of  the  United  States  was  of  so  little 
importance  that  the  Admiral  determined  to  take  the 
Flag -ship  to  the  western  part  of  the  Station.  We 
accordingly  sailed  from  Smyrna,  and  made  our  way 
towards  the  Headquarters  of  the  Station  at  Yille- 
franche.  We  were  dela3red  on  this  passage  by  a  per 
sistent  head-wind  from  the  westward,  which  blew  at 
times  with  such  violence  that  we  could  make  scarcely 
any  headway  against  it ;  indeed,  we  were  obliged  to 
anchor  one  night  under  the  lee  of  the  Island  of  Cyprus, 
in  order  to  save  fuel,  which  we  were  consuming  at  a 
rate  altogether  out  of  proportion  to  the  end  to  be  ac 
complished.  I  happen  to  remember  this  night  so  dis 
tinctly  from  the  fact  that  years  after  one  of  the  officers 
told  me  that  some  of  his  messmates  had  swum  ashore 
to  a  village  abreast  of  where  the  ship  was  anchored, 
had  had  a  little  frolic,  and  had  then  swum  back  again. 
The  weather  was  warm,  and  I  have  a  dim  recollection 
of  having  given  some  of  the  officers  permission  to  bathe 
alongside.  This  little  escapade  did  not  reach  my  ears 
at  the  time,  or  I  should  have  felt  it  my  duty  to  disci 
pline  the  offenders.  I  am  glad  it  did  not,  for  now, 
through  the  long  interval  of  time  that  has  since  passed, 
I  look  upon  it  as  a  prank  of  a  lot  of  dashing  young 
fellows  who  were  ready  for  anything. 

277 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

By  morning  the  wind  had  sufficiently  moderated  to 
enable  us  to  make  good  headway  on  our  course,  so 
we  sailed  for  Yillefranche,  where  we  arrived  in  the 
course  of  a  few  days,  and  settled  down  to  the  routine 
life  of  the  place.  It  was  a  great  boon  to  the  inhabitants 
of  this  little  town  to  have  it  the  Headquarters  of  the 
American  Squadron.  It  contained  about  a  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  I  think  we  contributed  more  than  any 
thing  else  to  the  support  of  its  people.  It  was  an  inter 
esting  sight  every  day  at  noon  to  see  a  row  of  milk- 
women  ranged  along  the  port  gangway,  nicely  dressed, 
wearing  white  aprons  and  white  caps,  dispensing  to  the 
sailors,  for  the  consideration  of  a  few  sous,  enough  bread 
and  milk  to  make  them  a  comfortable  meal,  always  ac 
companying  the  bargain  with  a  pleasant  smile  to  warm 
up  Jacky's  heart.  They  made  a  good  deal  of  money  as 
the  laundry-women  of  the  fleet,  for  although  Jack  al 
ways  washes  his  own  clothes  at  sea,  yet  he  always  likes 
to  have  an  ironed  shirt  for  Sunday  and  holiday  wear. 
In  various  other  ways  the  people  managed  to  turn  an 
honest  penny.  Their  men  were  the  boatmen  of  the 
Squadron,  and  I  presume  they  often  brought  off  to  the 
ship  as  many  as  a  hundred  passengers  in  the  course  of 
a  day.  Our  sailors  would  sometimes  marry  in  Yille 
franche,  but  I  doubt  if  they  could  always  be  relied 
upon  to  return  to  their  wives  after  the  cruise  was  over. 
It  was  altogether  a  very  interesting  little  community, 
and  there  was  always  a  strong  friendship  between  the 
people  of  the  fleet  and  those  of  this  little  French  town. 

The  Mayor  of  Yillefranche  was  a  very  interesting 
character  named  Pollonais.  He  had  amassed  a  large 
fortune,  and  had  built  himself  a  beautiful  villa  on  Cape 
Ferrat,  a  point  which  helps  to  make  the  harbor.  He 
was  an  exceedingly  charitable  man,  and  untiring  in  his 

278 


GAMBLING    AT    MONTE    CARLO 

efforts  to  make  the  people  of  the  little  community  over 
which  he  presided  prosperous  and  happy ;  and  when  one 
saw  the  air  of  content  which  seemed  to  pervade  these 
people,  one  could  not  help  feeling  that  he  had  been  suc 
cessful.  His  wife,  Madame  Pollonais,  was  not  behind 
him  in  ministering  to  their  wants  and  comforts,  for  her 
life  was  full  of  works  of  charity  and  kindness,  and  she 
was  adored  by  every  one  who  knew  her.  The  Pollo 
nais  were  in  the  habit  of  giving  large  breakfast-parties 
every  Sunday.  The  Commanding  Officers  of  our  ships 
of  war,  when  they  were  at  Yillefranche,  were  never  left 
out  of  these  feasts,  for  that  is  what  they  literally  were. 
I  have  never  forgotten  the  immense  salmon  which 
was  always  a  part  of  breakfast,  and  which  stretched 
from  one  side  of  the  table  to  the  other.  Sunday  was 
the  reception-day  of  these  hospitable  people,  and  the 
breakfast  guests  were  expected  to  pass  the  afternoon 
there  and  meet  the  visitors  from  Nice  and  those  who 
were  passing  to  and  from  Monte  Carlo,  for  their  villa 
was  nearly  in  the  direct  route  between  these  places. 

In  those  days,  as  perhaps  now,  every  one  went  to 
Monte  Carlo.  For  my  own  part,  I  can  say  with  truth 
that  I  never  played  there,  not  as  a  matter  of  principle, 
but  because  it  was  distasteful  to  me  to  mix  as  a  player 
with  the  crowd  which  surrounded  the  tables.  I  have 
chipped  in  with  others  to  form  a  pool,  but  never  won 
in  a  single  instance.  I  used  to  take  great  pleasure  in 
drifting  into  the  little  theatre  connected  with  the  Casino, 
where  music  of  the  choicest  kind  could  always  be  heard. 
I  also  enjoyed  the  dinners  and  petits  soupers  which  could 
be  had  there  in  perfection.  I  was  told  that  one  of  the 
officers  of  the  Squadron  won  a  large  sum  of  money, 
going  up  into  the  thousands,  and  that  he  had  the  good 
sense  to  send  it  home  and  to  stop  playing.  When  I 

279 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

was  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  European  Squadron  at 
a  later  day,  I  was  obliged  to  shut  down  on  some  of  the 
frequenters  of  Monte  Carlo.  I  shall  not  mention  the 
names  of  these  gentlemen,  but  they  will  probably  recog 
nize  themselves  if  this  narrative  should  ever  meet  their 
eyes.  It  has  always  been  a  mooted  question  whether, 
on  account  of  the  gambling  at  Monte  Carlo,  it  would 
not  be  better  to  have  our  Headquarters  at  some  place 
where  there  was  not  this  temptation.  The  question 
then  arises  whether,  if  the  people  will  gamble,  it  is  not 
better  that  they  should  lose  their  money  at  a  public 
table  than  to  play  amongst  themselves  and  win  from 
each  other.  There  is  a  story  about  Monte  Carlo,  I  pre 
sume  well  known  to  Naval  officers  who  frequented  that 
place,  about  some  officer  who  had  worked  out  math 
ematically  how  he  could  beat  the  bank,  and  induced 
some  of  his  messmates  to  chip  in  with  him.  It  was 
rather  early  in  the  night  when  he  returned  to  the  ship. 
As  he  came  alongside  he  requested  the  boatman  to  wait 
a  moment,  and,  rushing  up  to  the  officer  of  the  deck, 
requested  him  to  lend  him  a  franc  to  pay  the  man  for 
bringing  him  on  board.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  his 
mathematical  problem  proved  a  failure, 

It  was  now  about  midsummer  of  the  year  1876.  The 
Salonica  affair  having  brought  my  leave  of  absence  to  a 
sudden  termination,  I  determined  to  make  another  effort 
to  have  a  few  weeks  of  freedom  from  the  care  and  re 
sponsibility  of  my  command.  Accordingly  I  took  a 
leave,  and  ran  about  Europe  for  a  while,  taking  in  the 
Pyrenees,  when  I  visited  such  places  of  interest  as 
Lourdes,  and  saw  there  the  famous  grotto,  so  renowned 
all  over  the  Catholic  world;  also  the  Bagneres-de- 
Luchon,  the  "  Serchon  "  of  Owen  Meredith's  Lucile.  As 
one  ascends  the  mountains  at  this  place  he  encounters 

280 


MEETING    -'BOSS"    TWEED    AT    VIGO 

lake  after  lake,  until  he  reaches  the  region  of  perpetual 
snow,  where  he  finds  one  the  surface  of  which  is  always 
frozen.  After  remaining  awhile  in  these  mountains,  I 
returned  to  Villefrance  by  way  of  lakes  Como  and 
Maggiore,  and  rejoined  the  ship.  This  trip,  and  the 
sights  seen  during  journeyings  over  it,  have  been  so 
often  described  by  travellers  that  I  will  not  undertake 
description  here. 

The  terms  of  service  for  which  the  crew  of  the 
Franklin  had  enlisted  were  now  soon  to  expire.  In 
September  orders  arrived  from  home  directing  the  Ad 
miral  to  send  the  ship  to  the  United  States.  He  was 
to  remain  in  command  of  the  Squadron.  The  Trenton 
was  then  either  on  her  way  out  or  being  fitted  to  be 
his  Flag-ship.  I  accordingly  bid  farewell  to  Nice  and 
its  beautiful  surroundings,  and  in  a  few  days  reached  Gib 
raltar.  While  there,  expecting  to  sail  for  home  in  a  few 
days,  a  cablegram  reached  me  directing  me  to  proceed  to 
Yigo  in  Spain,  and  there  take  on  board  "  Boss  "  Tweed 
and  convey  him  to  the  United  States.  The  cablegram 
also  directed  me  to  treat  him  kindly,  which  I  should 
have  done  anyhow.  Upon  my  arrival  at  Yigo  I  im 
mediately  made  arrangements  with  the  authorities  to 
receive  him  on  board.  In  order  to  avoid  anything  sen 
sational,  it  was  agreed  between  us  that  a  boat  should 
be  sent  for  him  at  ten  o'clock.  By  this  time  the  crew 
would  have  been  in  bed  for  an  hour,  for  we  always 
"piped  down,"  as  it  is  called,  at  nine  o'clock.  As  he 
came  on  board  I  was  at  the  gangway  and  said,  "  How 
do  you  do,  Mr.  Tweed  ?"  whereupon  some  one  who  ac 
companied  him  —  I  think  his  son-in-law  —  stepped  for 
ward  and  said,  "Not  Mr.  Tweed  —  Mr.  Secor."  This 
attempt  at  concealment  was  so  weak  that  I  took  no 
notice  of  it,  but  accompanied  him  at  once  to  the  Ad- 

281 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

miral's  cabin,  which  was  to  be  his  place  of  sojourn  dur 
ing  the  voyage.  It  was  not  occupied  by  any  one  at 
this  time,  and  seemed  a  very  good  place  for  him.  I 
told  him  that  a  young  man  had  been  inquiring  for  him, 
whereupon  he  told  me  it  was  his  son.  He  had  too 
much  sense  to  attempt  any  concealment  himself. 

The  passage  home  was  uneventful  and  very  long. 
The  trade -winds  were  light,  and  we  did  not  carry 
coal  enough  to  justify  me  in  using  it  up  for  the  purpose 
of  shortening  the  passage  a  little.  Some  of  the  officers 
would  go  into  the  Admiral's  cabin  during  the  voyage 
and  play  cards  with  my  passenger  to  help  him  while 
away  the  time.  F malty,  after  a  long  passage,  we  ar 
rived  off  our  coast,  having  touched  at  St.  Thomas  en 
route  to  fill  up  with  coal.  It  was  a  cool  November  day 
as  we  passed  Sandy  Hook.  I  delivered  my  charge  to 
the  proper  authorities,  anchored  the  ship  off  the  Bat 
tery,  and  my  cruise  was  at  an  end.  It  was  not  thought 
proper  to  put  the  ship  out  of  commission  at  this  time. 
The  Presidential  election  had  not  yet  been  decided,  and 
the  times  were  uncertain.  Things  looked  a  little  squally, 
and  I  was  told  by  one  in  authority,  who  knew,  that  it 
was  thought  best  to  keep  the  Franklin  in  commission. 
I  saw  Mr.  Robeson,  then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  at  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  and  told  him  that  I  desired  to  be 
relieved  ;  he  was  very  pleasant,  and  replied  at  once  that 
he  would  accede  to  my  wishes,  and  that  I  should  have 
some  pleasant  duty  assigned  to  me.  In  a  few  days 
Captain  Ransom  reported  as  my  relief,  and  I  was  happy 
to  turn  over  to  him  the  finest  ship  that  I  think  the 
Navy  then  possessed  of  the  old  type. 

Before  bidding  adieu  to  the  old  Franklin  I  must  re 
late  an  incident  of  the  cruise  that  might  have  been  at 
tended  with  very  serious  consequences.  When  it  was 

282 


A    MUTINY    SUPPRESSED 

nearly  at  an  end,  at  a  time  when  Jack  is  hoarding  up 
his  gains  for  his  final  frolic,  the  Department  sent  out  a 
lot  of  working -clothes,  directing  that  a  suit  should  be 
issued  to  each  man  on  board.  As  many  of  the  men  al 
ready  had  clothes  in  which  they  did  their  rough  work, 
and  as  the  new  ones  would  have  to  be  paid  for  out  of 
their  wages,  they  complained  of  this  as  being,  what  they 
thought,  an  act  of  injustice.  When  I  learned  what  the 
feeling  was,  although  I  lamented  the  necessit}^  under 
the  circumstances,  of  having  to  enforce  the  order,  I  felt 
that  it  must  be  done  and  that  discipline  must  be  main^ 
tained,  cost  what  it  might.  I  ordered  the  officer  of  the 
first  division  to  call  his  men  to  quarters  and  direct  each 
man  in  his  division  to  take  a  suit  of  these  clothes.  The 
result  was  that  the  men  all  declined.  I  saw  then  that 
I  must  take  the  matter  in  hand  in  person.  I  sent  for 
the  Mas ter-of- Arms  and  asked  him  how  many  irons  he 
had,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  had  two  hundred  pairs. 
I  then  had  the  men  mustered  on  the  quarter-deck.  I 
called  upon  the  first  man  on  the  roll,  and  asked  him  if 
he  would  take  the  clothes,  to  which  he  replied  in  the  neg 
ative  ;  he  was  immediately  placed  in  double  irons.  The 
second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  men  made  the  same  reply 
and  shared  the  same  fate.  Things  began  to  look  grave, 
but  by  a  piece  of  great  good-luck  the  sixth  man  hap 
pened  to  be  one  of  my  gig's  crew  ;  he  touched  his  hat 
respectfully  and  said,  "I  suppose  I  must,  sir."  Had 
this  man  not  had  a  personal  liking  for  me,  the  refusal 
to  accept  those  clothes  might  have  become  general.  As 
it  was,  after  he  set  the  example,  the  rest  of  the  crew 
followed  in  his  wake,  and  the  cause  of  discipline  tri 
umphed. 

I  often  feel  uncomfortable  now  when  I  think  of  what 
might  have  been  the  consequence  if  the  whole  crew  had 

283 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

followed  the  lead  of  the  first  five — my  irons  would  soon 
have  become  exhausted,  and  I  should  have  been  obliged  to 
secure  three  hundred  of  the  men  in  some  other  way ;  and 
after  they  had  all  been  secured,  what  then  ?  I  could  not 
recede  from  the  stand  I  had  taken,  for  I  was  obliged  to 
maintain  the  discipline  of  the  ship,  for  which  I  was  an 
swerable  to  the  Admiral.  To  be  sure,  there  were  still 
the  guard  of  Marines,  numbering  fifty  or  sixty  men, 
the  servants  and  idlers,  numbering  perhaps  as  many 
more,  but  the  ship  would,  for  the  time  being,  have  been 
disabled,  and  so  would  have  remained  as  long  as  this 
spirit  of  disobedience  continued  with  the  crew.  I  have 
always  felt  under  the  deepest  obligation  to  the  member 
of  my  boat's  crew  who,  from  his  personal  liking  for  me, 
sacrificed  himself,  I  am  sure,  to  relieve  me  from  the  very 
embarrassing  position  in  which  I  was  necessarily  placed 
by  the  peculiar  situation.  I  think  that  he  felt  that  his 
shipmates  were  wrong  in  not  obeying  the  order,  but  he 
also  felt,  I  am  sure,  that  their  cause  was  a  just  one.  Af 
ter  the  matter  had  thus  been  settled,  without  any  further 
trouble,  I  caused  the  five  men  to  be  released  from  con 
finement.  I  then  called  up  the  petty  officers,  and  told 
them  that,  since  the  crew  had  shown  a  better  disposition, 
I  would  so  far  take  the  responsibility  upon  myself  as  to 
modify  the  Department's  order,  and  require  only  those 
who  had  no  working-clothes  to  accept  a  suit  of  those 
that  had  been  sent  out.  This  seemed  entirely  satisfac 
tory,  and  thus  the  matter  ended.  Not  long  after  this 
affair  there  appeared  in  the  New  York  Herald  a  most 
sensational  notice,  headed,  "  Mutiny  on  board  the  United 
States  S.S.  Franklin.  The  Captain  seen  on  the  Bridge  in 
his  Shirt-sleeves,  Armed  with  a  Eevolver,  having  already 
Killed  Two  Men,"  etc.  This  startling  notice,  calculated 
as  it  was  to  alarm  the  friends  of  the  people  of  the  Frank- 

284 


HOW  THE  KING  FELL  DOWN  THE  HATCH 

lin,  was  immediately  telegraphed  to  the  ship,  whereupon 
Lieutenant  Soley,  the  Admiral's  Flag  Lieutenant,  at  once 
placed  himself  in  communication  with  the  agent  of  the 
Herald  in  London,  and  the  result  was  that  the  report 
was  promptly  denied  the  next  day. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  the  Franklin  I  must  re 
late  a  story  well  known  to  both  the  American  and  Brit 
ish  Navies,  although  its  real  origin  is  known  perhaps 
to  very  few  in  either  service,  in  which  the  Franklin 
plays  a  very  conspicuous  part.  The  King  of  Naples  and 
his  suite  were  visiting  a  man-of-war  lying  in  the  Bay, 
when  one  of  the  suite,  taking  a  wind-sail,  which  conveys 
the  air  through  the  hatchway  to  the  lower  decks,  and 
very  much  resembles  a  marble  pillar,  to  be  a  real  pillar, 
leaned  against  it,  and  as  it  yielded  to  his  weight  he  was 
precipitated  down  the  hatch  and  broke  his  leg.  The  of 
ficer  of  the  deck  did  not  happen  to  see  what  had  occurred, 
and  was  very  busily  engaged  about  the  decks  when  an 
old  shell-back  Quartermaster  rushed  up  to  him,  repeat 
edly  touching  his  hat  without  receiving  any  recognition. 
Finally  he  could  stand  it  no  longer,  and  yelled  out  at  the 
top  of  his  lungs,  "  Please,  sir,  one  of  them  Kings  has 
fallen  down  the  hatch !"  I  have  heard  this  story  told  in 
many  different  ways,  but  the  idea  is  always  the  same, 
that  Jack's  notion  was  that  they  were  all  Kings,  suite  and 
all.  And  now  as  to  its  origin.  I  was  taking  luncheon 
one  day  with  the  Commandant  of  the  Naval  Station  at 
Gibraltar.  His  place  of  residence  is  situated  well  up  on 
the  Rock,  commanding  a  beautiful  view  of  the  sur 
roundings  and  the  anchorage.  One  of  my  fellow-guests 
at  this  luncheon  was  a  retired  British  Admiral,  whose 
name,  I  regret  to  say,  I  have  forgotten.  After  having 
had  a  most  agreeable  time  at  the  table,  we  all  retired  to 
a  pretty  little  summer-house,  where  we  smoked  our 

285 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

cigars  as  we  looked  down  upon  the  shipping  in  the  Bay 
below.  We  had  not  been  sitting  long  when  the  eye 
of  the  British  Admiral  happened  to  light  upon  the 
Franklin.  Turning  to  me,  he  said,  "Captain,  do  you 
happen  to  know  that  the  ship  you  command  is  the  same 
upon  which  occurred  the  event  on  which  is  founded 
that  celebrated  story,  well  known  to  both  services,  about 
'  one  of  them  Kings '  ?"  "When  I  replied  that  I  did  not, 
he  proceeded  to  tell  me  how  he  knew  it  to  be  true,  for 
he  was  on  the  spot  himself.  Ke  said  the  Franklin  was 
then  a  line-of-battle  ship,  and  that  he  was  a  Midshipman 
on  board  of  one  of  H.  B.  M.'s.  ships  at  the  time ;  that  he 
remembered  the  event  perfectly,  and  that  it  was  im 
pressed  upon  his  mind  so  strongly  because  the  Surgeon 
of  his  ship  was  sent  for  from  the  Franklin  to  assist  in 
setting  the  man's  broken  leg.  So  the  story  of  "  one  of 
them  Kings,"  which,  as  I  said  before,  is  a  standard  yarn 
in  both  services,  belongs  to  the  Franklin. 

It  will  be  observed  that  I  have  spoken  of  the  Frank 
lin  as  a  line-of-battle  ship,  or,  as  they  were  also  called  in 
those  days,  a  seventy-four.  "When  she  was  rebuilt  she 
was  an  entirely  different  vessel,  having,  when  I  com 
manded  her,  but  two  fighting  decks,  whereas  the  original 
ship  had  three.  I  remember,  when  I  was  a  youngster 
still,  I  wandered  about  her  half-finished  hull  when  she 
was  on  the  stocks  at  Portsmouth,  and  wondered  if  it 
would  ever  be  my  fate  to  serve  in  this  ship  bearing  my 
own  name,  never  dreaming,  then,  that  I  should  ever 
reach  a  rank  high  enough  to  command  her.  "While  I 
was  cruising  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Mediterranean, 
the  similarity  of  the  names  would  give  rise  to  curious 
questions  on  the  part  of  the  Orientals,  who,  not  being 
accustomed  to  Anglo-Saxon  names,  would  always  be 
puzzled  until  they  thoroughly  understood  the  situation. 

286 


"BEN"    AND    THE    "  MEADO  W-L  ARKS  " 

The  officers  at  the  Quarantine  Stations,  when  our  Med 
ical  officer  would  give  the  name  of  the  ship,  and  then  of 
the  Captain,  would  say,  "  Yes,  we  understand ;  but  we 
want  the  Captain's  name;"  and  when  told  it  was  Frank 
lin  would  look  mystified  and  ask  if  the  ship  belonged 
to  him,  and  would  want  to  know  if  the  ship  was  named 
after  him,  or  he  was  named  after  the  ship. 

The  story  of  this  cruise  of  the  Franklin  would  be  in 
complete  if  I  failed  to  make  some  mention  of  a  dog 
which  held  a  large  place  in  the  affections  of  the  officers 
and  crew.  This  little  animal,  a  brindled  French  terrier, 
was  brought  on  board  by  one  of  the  sailors  when  he  re 
turned  from  his  leave  on  shore.  It  was  very  small,  and 
was  immediately  called  "  Ben  Franklin,"  without  regard 
to  its  sex.  Almost  the  first  thing  that  Ben  did  was  to 
fall  down  a  hatch  and  break  her  leg ;  this  was  thought 
to  be  the  end  of  Ben,  but  she  was  taken  to  the  hospital, 
her  leg  put  in  splints,  and  in  the  course  of  time  she  re 
covered,  although  always  limping  a  little  afterwards. 
Lieutenant  Stevens  took  an  especial  interest  in  Ben,  and 
by  care  and  attention  she  grew  up  to  be  a  very  respect 
able  dog.  Some  of  the  officers  formed  themselves  into 
a  society,  which  they  called  the  "  Meadow-larks,"  mem 
bership  in  which  was  not  confined  to  human  beings,  but 
might  include  anything  that  was  new  and  strange,  or 
any  person  or  thing  that  was  agreeable  to  them.  So 
Ben  became  a  member  of  this  organization,  as  did  also  a 
comet  which  appeared  in  the  heavens  about  this  time ; 
and  since  the  Queen  of  Greece  was  a  special  favorite 
with  the  members  of  the  society,  she  was  elected  a  mem 
ber  also.  Some  of  the  "  Meadow-larks"  are  still  living, 
and,  I  think,  look  back  with  pleasure  to  the  days  when 
their  little  Club  was  first  formed. 

Ben  was  soon  a  favorite  with  the  crew  ;  they  taught 

287 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

her  all  sorts  of  tricks,  until  she  became  very  accom 
plished.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  they  taught  her  to 
sing,  and  almost  always,  when  guests  were  on  board, 
one  of  the  sights  was  to  have  Ben  up  on  the  poop-deck 
to  sing,  and  nothing  that  they  had  seen  on  board  seemed 
to  give  visitors  more  pleasure,  or  excite  more  interest, 
than  the  performance  of  this  wonderful  dog.  For  a 
long  time  after  she  came  on  board,  nothing  could  induce 
her  to  approach  the  quarter-deck ;  she  was,  jw  excellence, 
a  forecastle  dog.  By  degrees  she  became  bolder  and 
bolder,  and  was  induced  one  day  to  go  as  far  as  the 
cabin ;  but  when  she  looked  inside  something  seemed  to 
frighten  her,  and  she  rushed  forward,  apparently  very 
much  alarmed.  In  a  few  days,  however,  she  was  em 
boldened  to  make  another  attempt,  so  that  not  long  af 
terwards  she  was  induced  to  come  in  and  lie  down  on 
the  sofa.  All  at  once  it  seemed  to  have  dawned  upon 
her  that  she  had  found  a  soft  spot,  and  soon  she  ceased 
to  be  a  forecastle  dog  altogether.  One  of  her  peculiari 
ties  was  to  eat  raw  potatoes,  oranges,  and  apples,  the 
only  instance  of  the  kind  I  have  ever  seen  or  heard  of. 
At  the  end  of  the  cruise  I  took  Ben  home  with  me,  and 
she  finally  brought  up  on  a  farm  near  Washington, 
where  she  died. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

Promoted  Commodore — The  West  Point  Board  of  Visitors — Appoint 
ment  of  Cadets  —  Life  in  Washington — Observatory  Management 
— In  Command  of  the  European  Station — Promoted  Rear-Ad iniral. 

WHEN  I  was  relieved  by  Captain  Ransom  of  the  com 
mand  of  the  Franklin,  I  took  a  short  leave  of  absence, 
after  which  I  reported  for  duty  at  the  Navy- Yard  at 
Norfolk,  as  Executive  Officer  of  the  Yard.  This  posi 
tion  at  that  time  carried  with  it  no  authority,  and  I  was 
glad  to  be  relieved,  which  I  soon  was  at  my  own  re 
quest.  I  was  afterwards,  for  short  periods,  Executive 
Officer  of  the  Naval  Station  at  New  London,  and  of  the 
Navy- Yard  at  Washington.  When  Admiral  Wyman 
was  promoted,  I  succeeded  him  as  Ilydrographer.  I  be 
came  subsequently  President  of  the  Examining  Board 
for  the  promotion  of  officers  to  the  next  higher  grade. 
I  was  promoted  to  the  grade  of  Commodore  on  the  28th 
of  May,  1881. 

About  this  time  I  was  appointed  by  the  President 
one  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  to  West  Point.  Associ 
ated  with  me  on  the  part  of  the  Army  was  General 
Augur.  At  that  time  it  was  the  custom  to  have  both 
branches  of  the  Military  Service  represented  on  the 
Board,  but  I  believe  this  practice  has  now  been  aban 
doned  altogether.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  my 
colleagues  was  Mr.  John  C.  Ropes,  of  Boston.  His 
knowledge  of  military  matters  was  something  wonder 
ful;  he  was  not  only  an  expert  in  matters  of  grand 
T  289 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

strategy,  but  he  was  equally  good  in  the  most  minute 
details  connected  with  war.  It  was  delightful  to  hear 
him  discuss  the  great  battles  of  the  Civil  War  with  the 
veterans  who  fought  in  them,  with  an  intelligence  equal 
to  their  own,  and  with  a  knowledge  which  it  seemed 
quite  impossible  to  possess  without  having  been  on  the 
spot  while  the  engagements  were  going  on.  In  illus 
tration  of  what  I  have  stated  with  reference  to  his 
knowledge  of  details,  I  think  he  had  stored  away  in  his 
brain  the  names  of  every  Brigadier-General,  if  not  of 
every  Colonel  of  a  regiment,  that  fought  on  the  field 
of  Gettysburg.  Mr.  Ropes  possesses  the  finest  private 
military  library  in  this  or  perhaps  any  other  country, 
and  I  fancy  that  there  is  but  little  in  the  volumes  it 
contains  that  is  not  familiar  to  him  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree.  His  knowledge  of  Napoleon,  and  everything 
connected  with  that  great  soldier,  is  wonderful;  and 
while  one  might,  perhaps,  in  view  of  the  literature  about 
Napoleon's  life  and  times  with  which  the  world  has  re 
cently  been  flooded,  differ  from  him  in  his  admiration 
of  Bonaparte,  yet,  upon  the  whole,  it  has  always  seemed 
to  me  his  estimate  of  the  man,  and  what  he  did  for 
Europe,  is  correct.  I  was  also  very  much  struck  with 
the  ability  which  Mr.  Eopes  displayed  in  matters  other 
than  those  that  were  military.  It  happened  that  there 
were  two  clergymen  on  the  Board,  and  in  one  of  our 
informal  discussions  he  proved  himself  to  be  an  excel 
lent  theologian.  Another  member  of  our  Board  was  Mr. 
David  A.  Wells,  the  well-known  political  economist.  He 
would  discourse  upon  his  pet  theme,  "  Free  Trade,"  and 
I  remember  well,  after  enlarging  one  day  upon  how 
its  existence  in  this  country  would  benefit  the  people, 
he  wound  up  by  saying  that  if,  with  our  fine  climate, 
fertile  soil,  and  industrious  population,  we  could  not  get 

290 


DISCUSSION    AS    TO    SELECTING    CADETS 

on  without  a  tariff,  we  had  better  get  up  and  go  some 
where  else.  Professor  Yen  able,  from  the  University  of 
Yirginia,  was  also  one  of  my  colleagues.  He  had  been 
on  General  Lee's  Staff  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and 
Mr.  Eopes  never  tired  of  conversing  with  him  upon  this 
great  fight,  with  regard  to  which  he  himself  was  so  fa 
miliar. 

The  subject  of  the  best  method  of  appointing  Cadets 
to  West  Point,  which  would  apply  equally  well  to  those 
of  the  Naval  Academy,  was  informally  discussed  one 
day  by  the  members  of  the  Board.  The  question  was 
whether  it  was  better  to  appoint  boys  from  public 
schools  who  had  succeeded  best  in  competitive  examina 
tions,  or  whether  better  results  could  not  be  obtained 
by  adhering  to  the  custom  of  leaving  the  appointment 
to  the  judgment  of  the  Member  of  Congress  of  the  Dis 
trict  from  which  the  Cadet  was  to  be  named.  My 
recollection  of  the  result  of  this  discussion  is  that  the 
latter  system  was  regarded  as  much  the  better  of  the 
two.  It  was  argued  that  because  a  boy  excelled  in  book- 
learning  it  by  no  means  followed  that  he  possessed  the 
qualities  necessary  to  make  a  good  Military  or  Naval 
officer,  as  mere  scholarship  would  not  meet  the  require 
ments  that  these  positions  demanded  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Member  of  Congress  was  more  com 
petent  to  select  the  proper  person,  from  the  knowledge 
that  he  necessarily  possessed  of  the  children  of  his  con 
stituents,  with  whom  his  position  must,  more  or  less, 
intimately  throw  him.  I  thought  that  the  reasoning 
was  good,  and  I  think  so  now.  Mr.  David  A.  Wells 
wrote  the  report  of  the  Board,  and  in  conclusion  said 
that  the  system  of  education  and  training  at  the  Mili 
tary  Academy  was  calculated  to  produce  a  class  of  men 
that  would  neither  steal  nor  tell  lies. 

291 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

During  a  portion  of  the  years  1878  and  1879  I  lived 
at  the  Ebbitt  House,  where  I  knew  more  or  less  inti 
mately  a  number  of  distinguished  people.  Major  McKin- 
ley  and  Mrs.  McKinley  were  then  living  there,  both  of 
whom  I  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  very  well.  When 
the  Major  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio  I  wrote  him  a 
letter  of  congratulation,  and  the  following  is  a  copy  of 
the  letter  which  I  received  in  reply : 

CANTON,  OHIO,  December  10th,  1891. 
"ADMIRAL  S.  R.  FRANKLIN,  Washington,  D.  C. : 

"  My  dear  Admiral,  —  Your  very  cordial  letter  of  November  33d 
reached  me  in  due  course  of  mail,  and  would  have  been  answered 
earlier,  but  I  have  been  absent  from  home. 

"  I  want  to  say  that  of  the  thousands  of  letters  I  have  received 
since  election  none  have  given  me  more  real  pleasure  than  yours.  I 
remember  very  well  fifteen  years  ago,  when  we  were  together  at  the 
Ebbitt  House — you  a  Captain.  I  remember  the  delightful  days  we 
had  together.  I  have  noticed  from  time  to  time  with  satisfaction 
the  progress  you  have  made  in  your  profession,  going  through  the 
various  grades  until  you  have  reached  the  highest  place.  All  these 
you  have  deserved.  It  seems  to  me,  though,  hardly  right  that  you 
should  be  retired  from,  active  service  when  you  are  really  now  at 
your  best. 

"Mrs.  McKinley  joins  me  in  kind  regards  to  yourself  and  Mrs. 
Franklin. 

"  Cannot  you  run  over  to  Columbus  and  see  us  ? 

"  Yours  truly, 
"(Signed)  WM.  MCKINLEY." 

I  have  seen  him  several  times  since  his  elevation  to 
the  high  position  which  he  now  occupies,  and  I  still 
find  him  the  same  genial  gentleman  that  he  was  in 
those  days. 

General  Sherman  lived  at  the  Ebbitt  House  at  that 
time,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  him  and  his 
interesting  family  as  well.  The  General  invited  me  to 
accompany  him  to  one  of  the  annual  reunions  of  the 

292 


REPLY    TO    THE    TOAST    OF   "THE    NAVY" 

Army  of  the  Tennessee,  which  met  that  year  at  In 
dianapolis.  I  accepted  the  invitation,  and  went  in  com 
pany  with  him,  General  McFeeley,  Commodore  Law, 
and  a  number  of  others.  At  the  banquet  which  formed 
a  part  of  the  occasion  I  was  expected  to  reply  to  the 
toast  to  the  Navy,  and  had  written  out  a  brief  speech 
and  committed  it  to  memory.  While  we  were  at  the 
table  the  newspaper  men  appeared  and  asked  for  my 
speech,  which,  as  I  knew  it  by  heart,  I  gave  without 
hesitation.  As  the  dinner  advanced,  and  the  time  for 
speech -making  came,  I  found  that  so  distinguished  a 
statesman  as  Mr.  Hendricks  read  his  speech  from  a 
manuscript.  With  this  example  before  my  eyes  I  sent 
at  once  to  the  printer  to  have  mine  returned,  in  order 
that  I  might  not  appear  presumptuous  by  an  effort  to 
extemporize  when  so  distinguished  a  man  as  Hendricks 
had  not  done  so.  Meanwhile  Sherman  rose  and  replied 
to  the  toast  to  the  Army,  while  I  was  becoming  more 
and  more  nervous  as  he  was  nearing  the  end  of  his  re 
marks,  for  fear  that  a  copy  of  my  speech  would  not  be 
returned  to  me  before  he  finished ;  and,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  was  not.  To  my  horror  I  heard  Sherman  say: 
"  And  now  I  will  turn  you  over  to  Commodore  Frank 
lin,  who  will  talk  to  you  about  the  Navy."  It  is  a  won- 
der  to  me  now,  as  I  look  back  to  that  scene,  that  I  had 
not  forgotten  what  I  had  to  say  altogether,  but  it  so 
happened  that  I  remembered  every  word  of  it  and  I 
believe  I  acquitted  myself  creditably  enough.  At  a 
meeting  that  was  held  afterwards  in  the  theatre,  Gen 
eral  Harrison — who  afterwards  became  President — re 
plied  to  the  toast  to  the  ladies,  and  I  have  never  for 
gotten  how  beautifully  he  spoke. 

In  February,  1884,  I  was  ordered  to  relieve  Admiral 
Shufeldt  as  Superintendent  of  the  Observatory.    These 

293 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

orders  were  especially  agreeable,  for  I  was  now  occupy 
ing  a  position  that  had  been  held  by  my  father-in-law, 
Rear-Admiral  Sands,  for  seven  years.  I  had  now  about 
three  years  and  a  half  of  active  service  before  me,  and  I 
had  expected — and  I  think  it  was  so  understood  at  the 
Navy  Department — to  remain  at  the  head  of  the  Ob 
servatory  until  I  was  retired ;  but  it  was  otherwise  or 
dered,  and  I  passed  two  years  and  a  half  of  that  time  as 
Commander -in -Chief  of  the  European  Station.  When 
I  took  charge  of  my  new  duties  I  found  already  at 
the  Observatory  Commander  Sampson,  a  most  compe 
tent  officer,  one  who  was  in  all  respects  admirably 
adapted  to  the  position  of  Assistant  to  the  Superinten 
dent,  a  good  organizer,  as  well  as  a  good  astronomer. 
I  found  that  under  Admiral  Shufeldt  he  had  every 
thing  in  good  running  order,  and  the  duties  were  so 
distributed  that  the  right  man  was  always  to  be  found 
in  the  right  place,  and  the  work  so  arranged  that  the 
officers  were  employed  in  such  branches  of  the  scientific 
duties  of  the  Observatory  as  suited  each  one's  taste.  I 
therefore  found  it  necessary  to  make  but  little  change. 
I  did,  however,  create  a  permanent  Board,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  formulate  a  system  of  work  for  each  year, 
which  was  to  be  communicated  to  the  other  Observa 
tories,  in  order  that  the  work  of  all  might  be  harmoni 
ous  throughout.  I  think  this  plan  was  adopted  by  one 
of  my  successors,  Commodore  MclSTair,  but  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  was  adhered  to  by  all  of  them.  The 
Transit  of  Yenus  Commission,  of  which  I  was  a  mem 
ber,  was  in  existence  at  this  time.  My  colleagues  were 
Professors  Newcomb  and  Harkness,  both  men  of  the 
highest  order  of  scientific  attainments.  Professor  New- 
comb  has  an  international  reputation,  and  not  only  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  first  living  astronomers,  but  he 

294 


HOW    TO    MANAGE    AN    OBSERVATORY 

has  excelled  in  every  other  branch  of  science.  Profess 
or  Hall  was  stationed  at  the  Observatory  at  this  time. 
He  had  charge  of  the  great  Equatorial,  which  I  think 
at  that  time  was  amongst  the  largest,  if  not  the  largest, 
in  the  world.  He  was  most  zealous  and  painstaking  in 
his  work  with  this  instrument,  as  he  was  with  every 
thing  he  undertook.  He  was  the  man  of  science  whom 
I  conveyed  to  Plover  Bay  some  years  before  in  order 
to  observe  the  total  eclipse  of  the  sun ;  I  conceived  an 
affectionate  friendship  for  him  then  which  I  have  con 
tinued  to  cherish  ever  since.  To  my  mind  he  is  one  of 
the  most  charming  of  men.  Every  one  knows  that  Pro 
fessor  Hall  discovered  the  satellites  of  Mars,  by  which 
discovery  his  name  became  well  known  all  over  the  sci 
entific  world,  and  by  which  he  gained  a  reputation  of 
which  any  astronomer  might  be  proud. 

The  scientific  men  of  the  country  have  been  long 
endeavoring  to  secure  the  Superintendency  of  the  Ob 
servatory  for  one  of  their  number,  and  thus  take  it 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  Navy  altogether.  They  have 
brought  forward  many  arguments  which  have  hither 
to  been  unavailing,  and  I  sincerely  hope  they  always 
will  be.  The  head  of  the  French  National  Observatory 
was  formerly  selected  from  amongst  the  scientific  men 
of  France,  but  it  was  found  that  the  energies  of  that 
institution  were  always  bent  in  the  direction  of  the 
Superintendent's  specialty,  while  other  branches  of  the 
establishment  would  suffer.  It  was  then  decided,  when 
this  fact  had  been  well  determined,  to  place  Admiral 
Monche  at  its  head  for  a  period  of  five  years.  It  was 
thought  that  a  Naval  officer,  without  leaning  towards 
any  special  branch  of  science,  would  direct  the  Observa 
tory  in  the  interests  of  all ;  and  it  so  turned  out.  The 
Admiral  remained  for  the  five  years  for  which  he  was 

295 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

appointed,  in  order  that  the  experiment  might  be  tried, 
and  was  continued  in  office  afterwards,  the  conclusion 
having  been  reached  that  the  experiment  was  success 
ful.  This  practical  demonstration  of  the  question  seems 
to  be  the  strongest  argument  in  behalf  of  the  system 
which  now  obtains  with  us  that  could  be  brought  for 
ward.  I  do  not  believe,  however,  that  the  matter  is  yet 
settled,  for  I  have  understood  that  efforts  are  now  being 
made  to  place  at  the  head  of  our  Observatory  one  of 
our  most  distinguished  scientific  men. 

I  did  not  occupy  the  Superintendent's  house  during 
my  tour  of  duty  at  the  Observatory,  having  found  Cap 
tain  Sampson  there,  comfortably  placed,  and  I  had  no 
desire  to  oust  him.  I  remained  with  my  family  at  the 
Portland,  where  I  had  a  large  apartment,  and  contin 
ued  to  live  there  until  the  warm  weather  came  on.  I 
then  moved  out  to  the  Barber  house,  which  was  a  part 
of  the  property  that  had  been  purchased  for  the  site  of 
the  new  Observatory,  a  charming  spot,  from  which  one 
could  have  the  finest  view  of  Washington  and  its  sur 
roundings  that  can  be  found  anywhere  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  City.  It  was  delightfully  cool,  and  altogether 
a  very  pleasant  place  to  pass  the  summer.  I  would  drive 
into  my  office  in  the  morning,  attend  to  my  official 
work,  take  my  luncheon  at  the  Club,  and  return  to  the 
country  in  the  evening ;  and  so  the  summer  passed  rap 
idly  away.  At  the  end  of  August  I  was  ordered  to  New 
port,  as  the  President  of  the  Board  for  the  purpose  of 
witnessing  the  examinations  at  the  Torpedo  School, 
after  which  I  returned  to  my  Station  at  Washington, 
where  I  remained  until  I  was  ordered  to  command  the 
European  Station,  in  February,  1885. 

The  Pensacola  was  fitted  out  at  Norfolk  for  my  Flag 
ship.  Captain  Dewey,  at  my  request,  and  with  his  own 

296 


CHANDLER,    SECRETARY    OF    THE    NAVY 

consent,  was  ordered  to  command  her.  Lieutenant- 
Commander  Hitchcock  was  her  Executive  Officer,  and 
Lieutenant  Mansfield  her  Navigator.  I  was  promoted 
to  the  grade  of  Eear- Admiral  on  the  24th  of  January, 
1885.  The  present  Senator  Chandler  was  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy.  He  was,  in  my  opinion,  the  best 
Secretary  we  had  ever  had  up  to  that  date.  He  had 
been  connected  with  the  Navy  Department  in  former 
years,  was  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  needs  of 
the  service,  and  always  had  the  courage  of  his  convic 
tions.  Secretary  Chandler  had  offered  me,  some  months 
before  I  received  my  orders  to  the  European  Station,  the 
command  of  our  forces  in  China,  but  I  was  obliged  to 
decline,  for  reasons  which  he  thought  so  good  that  he 
said  if  he  were  in  my  place  he  would  not  go  either. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

On  the  Flag-ship  Pensacola  —  At  Work  on  a  Derelict — Tobogganing 
in  Madeira — Festivities  at  Gibraltar  and  Cherbourg — Fatal  Balloon 
Experiment — Copenhagen  and  Stockholm — A  Royal  Visit — Dinner 
at  the  Palace  —  Mormon  Propaganda  —  The  American  Minister's 
Feast — American  Women  Abroad. 

I  HOISTED  my  flag  on  board  the  Pensacola  early  in 
the  year  1885,  and  joined  her  at  Hampton  Koads  early 
in  the  month  of  May.  The  ship  lay  a  week  or  ten  days 
off  Fortress  Monroe  while  we  were  making  our  final 
preparations.  There  were  a  good  many  people  at  the 
Hygeia  Hotel  at  the  time,  many  of  whom  visited  the  Pen 
sacola.  I  remember  that  there  happened  to  be  there  a 
party  of  women  school-teachers  from  the  North,  who 
came  on  board  in  a  body.  One  of  their  number,  a  smart 
Yankee  girl,  who  was  very  much  interested  in  every 
thing,  not  being  able  to  suppress  her  curiosity,  turned 
to  the  Captain  and  said,  "  Captain,  what  is  the  object 
of  the  expedition  ?"  She  did  not  care  to  leave  the  ship 
without  knowing  all  there  was  to  be  known. 

I  invited  my  friend  Dr.  E.  L.  Keyes,  of  New  York,  to 
take  passage  with  me  to  Europe,  and  he  accepted  the  invi 
tation.  It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  have  him,  and 
I  think  it  was  a  pleasure,  as  it  was  a  novelty,  to  him  to 
go  in  that  way.  He  was  very  much  interested  in  what 
was  going  on  during  the  passage  across,  and  became  a 
good  man-of-war's-man.  The  apprentices  seemed  espe 
cially  to  attract  his  attention,  for  they  were  a  bright  set 

298 


DESTROYING    A    DERELICT 

of  boys.  "We  had  a  school-master  for  them,  and,  strange 
to  say,  the  one  who  was  at  the  head  of  his  class  in  every 
thing  was  a  negro. 

We  sailed  from  Hampton  Eoads  on  the  18th  of 
May,  and  soon  after  we  hauled  the  fires  and  made  the 
best  of  our  way  under  sail.  We  had  not  been  out  many 
days  when  we  made  out  to  windward  a  barque  appar 
ently  lying  to  under  a  spanker.  Upon  further  observa 
tion  it  was  discovered  that  she  was  deserted,  for  no 
signs  of  life  whatever  were  apparent  on  board  of  her. 
As  she  was  dead  to  windward,  there  was  no  way  of  get 
ting  at  her  except  with  steam,  so  we  lighted  the  fires, 
steamed  up  to  her,  and  sent  a  boat  alongside.  We  found, 
as  we  anticipated,  that  she  was  deserted.  Her  log-book 
was  on  the  cabin  table,  the  last  record  having  been  made 
about  eight  days  before.  As  she  lay  there  she  was  an 
impediment  to  navigation.  She  was  water-logged,  being 
loaded  with  lumber,  so  that  there  was  no  sink  in  her. 
We  at  once  went  to  work  with  our  torpedoes,  trying  to 
destroy  her,  but  we  found  it  was  no  easy  undertaking. 
The  first  torpedo  drove  a  hole  through  her  bottom  and 
carried  away  the  starboard  yard-arm  of  the  maintop- 
gallant-yard,  leaving  the  port  yard-arm  intact.  It 
seemed  a  hopeless  task  to  attempt  to  sink  her  with  tor 
pedoes,  but  we  continued  driving  them  through  her  un 
til  her  hull  was  so  disintegrated  that  we  felt  sure  she 
would  go  to  pieces  in  the  first  blow.  Night  was  now 
approaching,  and  bad  weather  was  coming  on  at  the 
same  time,  so  we  squared  away  on  our  course,  leaving 
her  to  break  up,  perhaps  that  very  night. 

We  were  bound  to  Madeira,  and  before  many  days  we 
anchored  in  front  of  Funchal.  We  passed  a  few  days 
here  very  pleasantly,  living  at  one  of  the  Reed  hotels, 
which  are  well  known  to  frequenters  of  Madeira.  The 

299 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

hotel  to  which  we  went  was  exceedingly  comfortable 
and  very  clean.  The  roast-beef  of  Madeira  is  finer  than 
that  of  old  England,  and  it  was  especially  enjoyable  af 
ter  our  rather  long  sea  trip.  There  was  not  much  to  do 
during  the  few  days  that  we  remained  here  but  loll 
about  and  enjoy  the  change  from  life  on  board  ship. 
We  did  one  thing,  however,  which  I  believe  nearly  ev 
erybody  does  who  goes  to  Madeira ;  I  refer  to  the  ex 
cursion  on  horseback  to  the  Church  of  Pico  Pico.  This 
Church  is  situated  well  up  in  the  mountains  which 
form  the  Island  of  Madeira.  The  excursionists  all 
mount  their  horses  and  ride  up  to  this  point.  Then 
comes  tobogganing  on  a  large  scale.  The  descent,  that 
is  in  a  different  direction,  is  made  in  large  sledges  which 
hold  two  people  very  comfortably.  Each  of  these  sledges 
is  managed  by  two  men.  The  start  is  then  made  down 
the  hill  at  a  breakneck  rate,  the  managers  of  these 
strange  vehicles  running  through  nearly  the  entire  de 
scent  at  fall  speed.  The  road  over  which  the  toboggan 
ing  is  done  is  nearly  as  smooth  as  glass,  and  resembles  as 
much  as  anything  to  which  I  can  compare  it  a  huge 
mosaic,  with  its  millions  of  small  stones  packed  into  the 
roadway.  It  looks  dangerous,  and  feels  so,  as  one 
speeds  along,  flying  through  the  air,  accomplishing  in 
from  five  to  ten  minutes  the  descent,  when  it  took  more 
than  an  hour  to  go  up.  I  found  it  rather  exhilarating, 
and  liked  it  so  much  the  first  time  that  I  tried  it  again. 
I  sailed  from  Madeira  on  the  14th  of  June,  and  reached 
Gibraltar  on  the  18th.  I  found  the  Kearsarge,  which  had 
just  arrived  from  a  long  cruise  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  at 
anchor  under  the  Bock.  Her  crew  had  been  a  long  time 
subject  to  the  malign  influences  of  that  climate,  so  I  de 
termined  to  take  her  with  me  on  a  cruise  into  the  Bal 
tic.  During  the  stay  of  the  Pensacola  and  Kearsarge  at 

300 


FESTIVITIES    AT    GIBRALTAR 

Gibraltar,  we  received  much  attention.  I  quote  from 
my  correspondence  with  the  Department  upon  this  sub 
ject  the  following:  " During  the  stay  of  both  vessels  at 
this  port  I  have  received  every  kindness  and  attention 
from  the  Governor,  Sir  John  Adye,  which  have  also 
been  extended  to  the  officers  and  crews  under  my  com 
mand.  I  have  endeavored  on  my  part  to  show  my  ap 
preciation  of  it  by  reciprocating  as  much  as  possible 
what  has  been  done  by  the  Governor  and  the  officers  of 
the  garrison."  "We  gave  a  matinee  to  the  officers  of  the 
Station,  which,  of  course,  included  the  ladies  of  their 
families,  and  we  invited  the  citizens  of  Gibraltar,  the 
foreign  Consuls,  etc.  I  had  constructed  on  the  bridge 
a  sort  of  dais,  from  which  Lady  Adye  could  view  the 
dancing  and  get  away  from  the  crowd  when  she  felt 
disposed.  She  did  not  remain  there  all  the  time,  of  course, 
and  on  one  occasion,  when  she  was  mingling  with  the 
throng,  I  invited  one  of  the  other  ladies  of  the  garrison 
to  accompany  me  to  it,  but  she  declined.  I  saw  then  that 
there  was  some  little  feeling  about  it,  and,  therefore,  did 
not  press  her.  My  object  was  to  do  especial  honor  to  Lady 
Adye,  the  wife  of  the  Governor,  but  I  saw  that  the  dis 
tinction  I  made  was  not  taken  as  I  intended  it  should 
be,  and,  perhaps,  it  would  have  been  better  not  to  do 
it.  The  whole  affair,  however,  was,  I  think,  considered 
very  creditable,  and  I  feel  sure  that  the  Americans  pres 
ent  were  not  ashamed  of  it.  Besides  our  Consul,  Mr. 
Sprague,  and  his  interesting  family,  there  were  present, 
also,  Mr.  Matthews,  our  Consul  at  Tangier,  and  his  hand 
some  young  daughter.  I  remember  how  proud  she  ap 
peared  to  be  that  day  as  she  danced  under  the  folds  of 
her  own  flag,  which  she  seemed  to  love  so  much. 

Early  in  July  I  sailed  with  the  Pensacola  and  Kear- 
sarge  for  Cherbourg,  where  we  arrived  on  the  10th  of  the 

301 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

same  month.  The  Naval  Arsenal  at  this  port  is  very 
extensive  and  strongly  fortified.  The  harbor  has  been 
rescued  from  the  sea  by  an  immense  breakwater,  and  is 
safe  and  commodious.  A  statue  of  Napoleon  with  his 
arm  stretched  towards  the  English  Channel  stands  on  the 
shore,  bearing  the  following  inscription  :  "  J'avais  resolu 
de  repeter  d  Cherbourg  les  merveilles  cVEgypte"  While 
this  declaration  has  not  been  fulfilled,  the  French  nation 
has  made  Cherbourg  a  military  port  of  which  any  coun 
try  might  be  proud.  The  Prefet  Maritime  at  this  time 
was  Vice- Admiral  du  Petit-Thouars,  whose  wife  was  an 
Englishwoman.  He  invited  me  to  accompany  him  on  a 
grand  review  of  the  forces  at  Cherbourg,  on  the  occa 
sion  of  one  of  their  annual  celebrations,  I  think  the  "  Fall 
of  the  Bastille."  I  accepted  the  invitation,  and  found  the 
affair  most  interesting.  At  night  there  was  a  grand  re 
ception  at  his  house,  to  which  all  the  officers  of  both 
ships  were  invited,  and  we  received  every  attention  from 
the  Yice- Admiral  and  Madame  du  Petit-Thouars.  On 
Sunday  I  went  to  mass,  and  was  very  much  interested 
in  the  manner  in  which  the  French  churches  are  con 
ducted.  There  is  a  sort  of  uniformed  sexton  called  le 
Suisse,  who  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  combination  of  sex 
ton  and  police  officer,  for  he  carries  in  his  hand  a  baton, 
with  which  he  could  enforce  his  orders  if  necessary. 
Two  collections  were  taken  up,  one,  as  was  called  out  by 
the  official,  "Pour  les  pauvres"  and  the  other  "Pour 
VEglise"  It  was  all  very  novel  and  interesting  to  me, 
although  I  had  often  been  in  French  churches  before. 

There  was  at  Cherbourg  at  this  time  an  American 
named  Gower,  who  had  become  rich  as  one  of  the  origi 
nal  stockholders  of  the  Telephone  Company,  and  amused 
himself  by  spending  his  money  in  ways  to  suit  his  tastes, 
which  were  peculiar.  The  scheme  which  was  now  oc- 

303 


FATAL  BALLOON  EXPERIMENT 

cupying  his  attention  was  to  blow  up  London  or  any 
other  city  by  means  of  balloons,  or,  rather,  by  heavy 
projectiles  dropped  from  them  into  the  doomed  city. 
He  came  on  board  to  see  me  the  day  after  my  arrival, 
and  explained  his  plan,  which  seemed  to  be  visionary, 
but  not  impossible.  He  told  me  that  the  prefet  had 
been  very  kind  to  him,  and  had  sent  some  French  sail 
ors  to  assist  him  in  preparing  his  balloons  for  an  experi 
ment  which  he  was  about  to  make.  He  was  going  to 
accompany  the  experimental  balloon,  that  was  a  good 
deal  smaller  than  his  own,  and  of  the  size  ordinarily 
used  by  aeronauts.  He  had  finished  his  preparations, 
and  was  now  waiting  only  for  a  favorable  wind,  which, 
in  order  to  carry  him  over  London,  should  be  southwest. 
Finally,  all  the  conditions  seemed  to  be  favorable.  He 
invited  Yice-Admiral  du  Petit  Thouars,  Bear-Admiral 
Kaznakoff,  of  the  Russian  Navy,  and  me  to  be  present 
at  the  start.  We  accordingly  all  appeared  upon  the 
scene  at  the  appointed  hour.  The  inflated  balloons 
were  pitching  and  rearing  in  their  efforts  to  get  away 
from  the  fastenings.  Gower  was  in  the  basket  of  his 
own  balloon.  He  looked  pale  and  nervous,  not,  I  think, 
from  apprehension  of  disaster,  but  rather  from  the  feel 
ing  of  how  much  was  depending  upon  the  experiment 
he  was  about  to  make.  We  all  stepped  up  to  him  and 
shook  him  by  the  hand,  and  wished  him  "  Ion  voyage."  It 
was  a  lowering  evening,  the  clouds  and  scud  flying  fast 
from  the  southwest.  At  the  appointed  time  the  fasten 
ings  were  cut,  and  the  two  balloons  shot  up  into  the  sky, 
darting  off  to  the  northeast  with  the  swiftness  of  the 
wind.  We  watched  them  for  a  while,  but  they  soon  dis 
appeared  amidst  the  mist  and  clouds  with  which  the 
atmosphere  was  filled,  and  were  seen  no  more.  About 
ten  o'clock  that  night,  just  as  I  was  retiring,  I  received 

303 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

a  despatch  from  the  Vice  -  Admiral,  in  which  he  said: 
"  My  dear  Admiral,  I  am  afraid  we  shall  never  see  our 
friend  Gower  again.  The  basket  of  his  balloon  was 
picked  up  in  the  Channel  by  one  of  my  fishing-boats 
and  brought  to  me.  lie  has  probably  been  drowned." 
It  was  a  great  shock  to  me,  and  I  could  not  help  recall 
ing  that  pale  and  anxious  face  as  we  wished  him  bon 
voyage,  when  he  was  about  to  cut  his  fastenings  and 
start  off  on  his  perilous  trip.  After  the  event  which  I 
have  just  related,  many  theories  with  reference  to  the 
fate  of  Gower  arose,  and  were  discussed  in  the  news 
papers  of  the  day.  It  was  said  by  some  that  he  had 
been  picked  up  in  the  English  Channel  by  some  India- 
bound  steamer,  and  carried  to  India,  and  every  now 
and  then  some  reference  is  made  in  the  public  prints  to 
his  perilous  venture.  I  was  called  upon  afterwards  in 
London  by  his  brother,  who  naturally  desired  to  know 
all  about  his  last  moments,  for  what  I  saw  of  him  would 
seem  indeed  to  have  been  such,  since  surely  he  must 
have  perished  soon  after  we  three  Admirals  shook  him 
by  the  hand  and  bade  him  good-bye.  His  brother  told 
me  that  there  was  a  widow,  who  would  probably  call 
on  me,  but  she  never  did.  I  have  understood  since  that 
she  was  a  well-known  singer,  who  has  lately  figured  in 
that  capacity  at  musical  entertainments  at  "Washington. 
She  and  her  husband,  I  think,  had  been  divorced,  and 
were  living  apart  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  mine  to  the 
Navy  Department  will  show  the  feeling  which  existed 
with  reference  to  Americans  at  the  time  I  was  at  Cher 
bourg  : 

"  I  have  observed  during  my  stay  at  Cherbourg  that 
the  French  authorities  have  been  very  much  impressed 
with  the  attentions  paid  to  the  representatives  of 

304 


THE  ROYAL  FAMILY  OF  DENMARK 

France  at  the  time  of  the  reception  of  the  Bartholdi 
Statue  in  New  York,  and  they  have  done  all  in  their 
power  to  show  to  me  and  the  officers  and  men  under 
my  command  how  much  they  appreciate  this  kindness 
on  the  part  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  have  done  all  that  I  could  to  foster  these 
sentiments,  and  am  sure  that  the  presence  of  the  Pen- 
sacola  and  Kearsarge  in  a  French  port  at  this  time  has 
done  much  towards  cementing  the  good  feeling  which 
already  existed  between  the  two  peoples." 

I  sailed  with  the  Flag -ship  and  Kearsarge  for  Co 
penhagen,  where  I  arrived  on  the  26th  of  July.  I 
had  been  presented  to  King  Christian  when  I  was  at 
this  Capital  on  a  former  occasion,  and  had  then  had  a 
very  agreeable  dinner  at  the  palace,  where  I  met  the 
Royal  family,  not  only  at  dinner,  but  afterwards  in  the 
drawing-room.  The  evening  which  I  passed  with  them 
was  such  as  one  might  pass  with  any  well-regulated 
family  of  well-bred  people;  the  grandchildren,  who  were 
not  at  dinner,  were  brought  in  and  mixed  with  the 
guests,  and  made  themselves  agreeable  in  their  childish 
way.  The  Crown-Prince  of  Denmark  was  at  the  Royal 
palace  on  a  visit  to  his  family.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  wife,  a  most  agreeable  person,  with  whom  I  con 
versed  a  good  deal  during  the  evening.  She  was  very 
fond  of  dancing,  and  when  she  told  me  how  much  pleas 
ure  it  gave  her  I  suggested  to  her  to  make  up  her  par 
ty  and  I  would  give  them  a  dance  on  board.  She  was 
delighted  at  the  idea,  and  told  me  that  nothing  would 
give  her  greater  pleasure,  but  she  said  that  as  she  was  a 
guest  at  the  palace  she  could  not  suggest  the  idea  to 
Her  Majesty,  as  any  affair  of  that  kind  would  have  to 
originate  with  the  Queen.  I  did  not  pursue  the  subject 
further,  so  the  matter  was  dropped.  I  lived  on  shore 
u  305 


MEMORIES    OF   A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

most  of  the  time  that  the  ship  remained  in  Copenhagen, 
and  roamed  around  seeing  the  sights,  some  of  which 
are  especially  interesting.  The  Thorwaldsen  Museum 
would  be  a  credit  to  any  city,  but  it  is  especially  so 
to  Copenhagen,  where  are  assembled  so  many  of  the 
works  of  its  great  sculptor.  Munkaczy's  picture  of 
"Christ  before  Pilate"  was  on  exhibition  at  Copenha 
gen  at  this  time,  and  attracting  a  great  deal  of  atten 
tion.  It  was  then  a  great  novelty.  It  has  found  its 
way  to  this  country  since,  where  it  has  had  a  great 
success. 

Our  new  Minister,  Mr.  Anderson,  had  just  reached 
Denmark,  having  superseded  Mr.  Wickham  Hoffman,  an 
appointee  of  the  former  Administration.  I  had  known 
the  Hoffmans  for  a  long  time  very  pleasantly,  and  passed 
a  good  deal  of  my  time  at  their  house ;  I  have  had  oc 
casion  to  mention  them  before  in  the  course  of  this  nar 
rative.  Hoffman  had  always  been  a  most  creditable 
representative  American  wherever  he  had  been,  having 
before  this  always  served  as  Secretary  of  Legation,  and 
he  left  Denmark  with  a  high  reputation  both  as  a  diplo 
mat  and  a  gentleman.  I  invited  both  the  Minister  and 
the  ex-Minister  to  take  passage  with  me  to  Stockholm. 
They  both  accepted  my  invitation,  and  we  had  a  very 
pleasant  time  together.  Hoffman  remained  as  the  guest 
of  Captain  Dewey  and  myself  for  a  fortnight  or  more 
and  then  returned  to  Copenhagen. 

I  left  the  last-named  place  with  my  small  Squadron 
after  a  brief  visit,  and  reached  Stockholm  early  in  Au 
gust.  I  had  been  at  this  port  on  a  former  cruise  and 
had  had  the  honor  of  being  presented  to  King  Oscar 
at  that  time,  but  I  thought  proper,  as  Commander -in - 
Chief,  to  ask  for  another  audience,  which  was  promptly 
granted.  1  quote  from  my  correspondence  with  the  De- 

306 


PHOTOGRAPHS    FROM    KING    OSCAR 

partment  the  following  extract :  "  I  asked  for  an  audi 
ence  with  the  King  of  Sweden  and  Norway,  which  was 
granted.  I  took  occasion  to  say  to  him  that  if  it  would 
be  agreeable  and  convenient  for  him  to  visit  the  Pen- 
sacola,  I  would  be  happy  to  receive  him ;  he  appointed 
Tuesday,  the  llth  inst.,  for  his  visit,  and  came  on 
board  that  day  with  two  of  his  sons  and  several  mem 
bers  of  his  Staff.  All  the  ceremonies  usual  on  such 
occasions  took  place,  in  addition  to  which  I  had  the 
ship's  battalion  exercised  in  his  presence,  which  seemed 
to  interest  and  gratify  him  very  much."  To  show  the 
appreciation  of  His  Majesty  of  his  visit  to  the  Pensa- 
cola,  he  immediately,  upon  his  arrival  on  shore,  sent  me 
a  note,  accompanied  with  three  photographs — one  for 
Captain  Dewey,  one  for  Commander  Bridgman,  and 
one  for  me.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  note  re 
ferred  to : 

"  STOCKHOLM,  August  lltk,  1885. 

"DEAR  ADMIRAL  FRANKLIN, —  Hereby  I  send  you  three  photo 
graph  portraits  of  mine,  of  which  I  hope  you  will  keep  one  for  your 
self,  and  give  the  others  to  the  Commanding  Officers  of  the  ships.  I 
wish  you  a  good  and  happy  time  at  sea,  and  have  seen  you  here  again 
with  great  pleasure.  Hoping  it  will  not  be  the  last  time, 

"(Signed)  OSCAR." 

At  the  audience  to  which  I  referred  in  my  letter  of  the 
Department,  an  extract  of  which  I  have  just  quoted,  I 
was  accompanied  by  the  two  above-named  Commanding 
Officers.  His  Majesty  invited  us  to  partake  of  a  sort  of 
mid-day  dinner,  which  took  place  after  the  presentation. 
On  one  side  of  the  table  were  seated  the  King  and 
Queen  and  Royal  family;  just  opposite  to  them  sat 
Captain  Dewey,  Commander  Bridgman,  and  I ;  the 
Royal  suite  were  distributed  about  the  table  on  both 
sides.  As  the  dinner  was  served,  the  conversation  be- 

307 


MEMORIES    OF   A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

came  general,  and  as  King  Oscar  is  a  jolly  sort  of  King, 
who  took  a  glass  of  American  whiskey  with  me  when 
on  board  the  Pensacola,  the  natural  feeling  of  restraint 
which  one  feels  on  such  occasions  had  passed  away. 
His  Majesty,  who  had  succeeded  his  brother  as  King 
of  Sweden  and  Norway,  had,  before  he  ascended  the 
throne,  been  an  Admiral  at  the  head  of  the  Royal  Navy 
of  Sweden.  He  appeared  to  take  great  pleasure  in  con 
versing  about  his  experiences  in  his  former  profession, 
and,  while  talking  about  it  at  the  dinner,  looking  Bridg- 
man  full  in  the  face,  he  said  :  "  It  is  a  profession  to 
be  preferred  to  my  present  one;  don't  you  think  so, 
Captain  ?"  "When,  without  a  moment's  hesitation,  Bridg- 
inan  said :  "  Your  Majesty,  I  have  only  tried  one  of  the 
professions,  and  therefore  do  not  feel  competent  to  de 
cide  which  I  would  prefer."  A  courtier  would  probably 
have  agreed  with  the  King,  but  this  prompt  reply  pleased 
every  one  very  much,  and  there  was  a  general  laugh  all 
around  the  table.  His  Majesty  seemed  to  have  taken 
an  especial  liking  to  Bridgman,  who  was  a  handsome 
fellow  of  very  pleasing  manners.  Indeed,  this  fancy  ex 
tended  so  far  that  he  invited  him  to  remain  in  those 
waters  and  join  a  hunting-party  that  he  was  soon  to 
give  to  the  Prince  of  Wales.  After  dinner  we  adjourned 
to  the  palace  grounds,  where  there  was  a  free  mingling 
of  all  those  who  were  at  the  table.  I  had  quite  a  long 
talk  with  the  Queen,  who  was  a  German  Princess,  and 
I  think  a  descendant  of  Eugene  de  Beauharnais,  and,  as 
the  King  himself  was  a  descendant  of  Bernadotte,  it 
might  be  said  that  this  Royal  family  is  the  outcome  of 
the  French  Revolution.  In  my  conversation  with  the 
Queen,  she  referred  with  much  feeling  to  the  prosely 
tizing  that  was  being  done  by  the  Mormons  amongst 
their  people ;  how,  by  their  flattering  representations, 

308 


RECEPTION    AT    STOCKHOLM 

they  have  managed  to  induce  many  of  them  to  embrace 
their  faith,  and  go  with  the  Mormon  emissaries  to  the 
fertile  fields  of  Western  America.  She  asked  me  if  I 
did  not  think  our  Government  could  do  something  to 
arrest  this  system,  which  she  said  caused  her  so  much 
unhappiness.  I  could,  of  course,  give  her  no  encourage 
ment,  and  told  her  that  I  feared  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  was  entirely  powerless  in  matters  of  that 
kind,  and  I  presume  she  felt  the  same  way  about  her 
own. 

The  approach  to  Stockholm  from  the  sea  is  beautiful 
beyond  description.  As  the  Pensacola  and  Kearsarge 
would  wind  amongst  the  thousands  of  islands  which  bar 
the  way,  they  would  seem  to  be  in  the  midst  of  an  archi 
pelago  of  villas  and  country-seats,  nearly  every  island 
containing  more  or  less  of  these  prettily  constructed 
buildings.  The  band  was  on  deck  for  hours  replying 
to  the  salutes  of  the  people,  who,  as  we  would  suddenly 
appear  in  sight,  would  rush  from  the  table  with  napkins 
and  table-cloths,  and,  when  they  were  exhausted,  with 
sheets  and  pillow-cases,  which  they  would  wave  fran 
tically  in  the  air  to  signify  their  welcome  to  the  stran 
gers.  It  seemed  as  if  all  Stockholm  had  gone  to  these 
summer  resorts,  for  they  were  as  thick  as  ant-hills. 
When  we  went  to  the  audience  and  dinner  at  the 
country  palace  of  the  King,  we  passed  many  islands 
beyond  the  city,  but  we  were  then  in  a  government  ves 
sel  of  Sweden,  which  was  not  quite  the  same  thing  as 
approaching  as  visitors  to  their  country,  with  our  own 
colors  flying. 

Our  Minister  at  Stockholm  at  this  time  was  Mr.  Magee. 
He  had  not  been  there  long,  and  felt  a  stranger  at  his 
new  post.  The  advent  of  our  little  Squadron  was  a 
source  of  great  pleasure  and  gratification  to  him,  as  the 

309 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

display  of  our  flag  always  is  to  our  representatives 
abroad.  He  gave  us  a  very  handsome  dinner  at  the 
restaurant  of  the  Public  Garden — a  beautiful  place  of 
resort  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  to  which  the  citizens 
flock  in  great  numbers,  where,  in  feasting  and  revelry, 
they  pass  half  of  the  summer  nights,  which  at  this 
season  were  nearly  all  daylight.  He  had  invited  to 
meet  us  some  of  the  members  of  the  King's  Cabinet 
and  other  distinguished  people.  It  was  a  feast,  taken 
with  its  beautiful  surroundings,  well  worth  remember 
ing,  and  it  has  left  a  very  pleasing  memory.  We  drove 
out  to  the  dinner,  but  the  night  was  so  lovely  that  we 
concluded  to  walk  back,  a  distance  of  about  two  miles 
from  the  point  from  which  we  started.  It  was  eleven 
o'clock,  and  still  daylight,  as  we  marched  in  a  proces 
sion  to  the  boat-landing,  where  we  separated  and  went 
on  board  the  ship.  My  companion  as  we  walked  back 
was  the  Minister  of  Marine,  a  bright  fellow,  who  in 
terested  me  very  much  in  relating  to  me  many  curious 
things  about  his  country.  He  told  me,  amongst  other 
things,  that  the  Swedes  had  been  a  very  intemperate 
people,  but  a  great  reformation  had  taken  place  in  this 
respect,  and  that  they  could  be  considered  so  no  longer. 
This  trait  in  the  character  of  this  people  was  entirely 
new  to  me,  for  when  I  first  went  to  sea,  fifty  years  ago, 
we  had  many  Swedes  amongst  the  crews  of  our  ships, 
and  my  recollection  is  that  they  were  amongst  the  best 
and  soberest  men  we  had.  Notwithstanding  the  high 
latitude  in  which  they  live,  they  are  a  bright  and  sunny 
people,  and  Stockholm  well  deserves  its  name  of  the 
Venice  of  the  North. 

Sweden  is  no  exception  to  the  rule  that  at  nearly 
every  Court  in  Europe  there  is  at  least  one  American 
woman,  a  wife  of  a  member  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps. 

310 


LEAVE    STOCKHOLM    FOR   SOUTHAMPTON 

At  Stockholm  it  was  Countess  D'Aunay,  whose  husband 
was  the  French  Minister  there  at  that  time,  and  a  promi 
nent  member  of  the  Corps.  They  lived  in  very  hand- 
some  style,  as  I  can  bear  witness,  for  one  of  the  most 
elegant  dinners  that  I  can  remember  I  partook  of  at 
their  hospitable  mansion.  "We  had  an  entertainment 
for  the  Countess  and  other  guests  on  board  the  Pen- 
sacola,  at  which  there  was  another  American,  the  Coun 
tess  Rosen.  Madame  D'Aunay  is  the  daughter  of  the 
late  General  Berdan,  and  a  sister  of  the  wife  of  Marion 
Crawford.  She  was  a  very  handsome  woman,  and,  to 
use  a  slang  expression,  she  held  up  the  American  end 
very  well.  Countess  Eosen  is  the  daughter  of  a  well- 
known  Philadelphian,  Mrs.  Bloomfield  Moore.  I  had 
seen  her  ten  years  before,  when  I  was  cruising  in  the 
Baltic,  and  at  the  time  of  the  visit  now  described  she 
was  still  a  handsome  woman.  Her  husband  is  Count 
Rosen,  of  the  Swedish  Navy. 

The  time  which  I  had  set  apart  for  my  cruise  in  the 
Baltic  was  now  nearly  expired,  and  I  sailed  a  few  days 
after  the  events  about  which  I  have  been,  writing,  in 
tending  to  touch  at  Kiel  on  my  way  to  Southampton, 
but  the  wind  remained  so  persistently  ahead  that  I 
determined  to  put  into  Copenhagen  for  coal,  abandon 
the  Kiel  trip  altogether,  and  go  direct  to  Southampton. 
"When  I  anchored  at  Copenhagen  for  the  second  time 
my  former  passengers,  the  Minister  and  the  ex  -  Min 
ister,  Colonel  Hoffman,  both  of  whom  had  preceded  me, 
were  very  much  surprised  until  I  related  to  them  the 
cause.  I  found  Hoffman  in  bed  with  a  bad  fit  of  gout, 
which  he  told  me  he  had  never  had  before ;  I  felt  rather 
flattered  to  think  this  attack  was,  perhaps,  the  result 
of  the  good  cheer  of  the  Pensacola.  As  soon  as  we 
had  filled  up  with  coal  I  got  under  way  and  went  to 

311 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Southampton,  arriving  there  on  August  26th,  thus  bring 
ing  the  cruise  in  the  Baltic  to  an  end.  I  left  the  ship, 
went  to  London,  and  took  up  my  quarters  at  Carter's 
Hotel,  in  Albemarle  Street,  where  my  wife  had  pre 
ceded  me. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

In  English  Waters  —  Mr.  Phelps  on  Board  —  Among  the  Docks  —  A 
Southampton  Banquet  —  Boar  Hunting  at  Tangier  —  Changes  at 
Nice— A  Christmas  Dinner — American  Diplomatists — An  Extraor 
dinary  Request — Interview  with  the  Pope — Americans  in  Rome — 
The  Highlands  of  Sicily. 

I  REMAINED  in  and  about  London  and  Southampton 
for  about  six  weeks  before  sailing  for  the  southern  part 
of  the  Station.  Our  Minister  at  the  Court  of  St. 
James's  at  this  time  was  Mr.  Phelps.  It  is  needless  for 
me  to  say  here  how  well  we  were  represented  by  this 
distinguished  diplomat ;  he  and  Mrs.  Phelps  were  held 
in  the  highest  respect  and  esteem  by  all  classes  of  the 
English  people,  and  I  am  sure  that  our  Minister  at  that 
time  ranked  high  amongst  the  great  Americans  who 
have  always  filled  this  exalted  position.  Mr.  Phelps 
was  very  fortunate  in  having  attached  to  the  Legation 
such  men  as  Harry  White  and  Commander  Chadwick, 
the  latter  of  whom  was  our  able  Naval  Attache.  Mrs. 
White  and  Mrs.  Chadwick  were  both  ladies  who  occu 
pied  high  social  positions  at  home,  and  were  enabled, 
thus,  to  assist  their  husbands  in  a  very  important  branch 
of  the  diplomatic  career.  I  invited  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Phelps 
and  a  party  of  Americans  to  visit  the  Pensacola,  where 
they  were  entertained  by  Captain  Dewey  and  me  at 
luncheon.  I  had  the  honor  of  giving  Mr.  Phelps  his 
first  salute,  which  I  remember  because  he  told  me  it 
was  the  first  he  ever  received.  Amongst  others  pres- 

313 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

ent  were  some  of  my  American  friends  whom  I  hold 
in  high  esteem.  I  mean  Miss  Alice  Riggs  and  her 
sister,  Mrs.  Howard,  and  her  children.  The  young  peo 
ple  had  a  dance  on  the  main-deck,  while  those  of  us  who 
were  not  so  }Toung  amused  ourselves  as  best  we  could. 
It  was  all  a  novelty  to  the  Minister,  and,  as  he  seemed 
pleased  with  everything  that  took  place,  I  was  satisfied 
with  the  result  of  the  entertainment.  The  party  re 
mained  on  board  for  several  hours,  and  in  the  evening 
took  train  back  to  town. 

I  met  in  London  at  this  time  Colonel  Taylor,  the  secre 
tary  of  the  various  dock  companies  and  Equerry  to  the 
Queen.  The  Tilbury  Docks  were  just  being  construct 
ed,  an  immense  work,  which,  during  the  excavations,  un 
earthed  many  curious  relics,  going  back  even  to  the  time 
of  the  Romans.  Colonel  Taylor  asked  me  and  my  Staff 
to  accompany  a  party  of  invited  guests  to  visit  this  inter 
esting  work.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  there  Sir 
Montagu  McMurdough,  who,  with  his  charming  family, 
entertained  us  afterwards  at  their  pretty  country-seat 
on  the  Thames.  Lady  McMurdough  was  the  daughter 
of  Sir  Charles  Napier,  of  Sinde,  and  was,  naturally,  very 
proud  of  the  reputation  of  her  gallant  father.  Colonel 
Taylor  invited  us  to  lunch  with  him  at  his  offices,  in  the 
building  of  the  East  India  Dock  Company.  We  after 
wards  accompanied  him  to  the  East  and  West  India 
Docks.  The  sight  which,  interested  me  most  in  the 
West  India  Docks  was  the  American  Frigate  President, 
which  had  been  captured  from  us  by  the  English  in 
the  war  of  1812.  There  she  lay,  a  fixture,  to  remain  as 
long  as  she  could  be  utilized  for  the  purpose  for  which 
she  was  then  used,  that,  I  think,  of  a  school-ship  for  ap 
prentices,  and  then,  probably,  to  be  broken  up  for  fire 
wood.  It  seemed  an  inglorious  fate  for  this  gallant 

314 


ELECTION    BANQUET    AT    SOUTHAMPTON 

American  Frigate,  which  in  her  day  was  one  of  the 
finest  ships  of  our  Navy.  We  visited  also  the  ware 
houses  of  the  dock  companies,  filled  with  articles  of 
the  world's  commerce  of  every  possible  description.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  immense  rum-cellar,  stored  with 
great  butts  containing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  gal 
lons  of  this  product  of  the  West  Indies.  Amongst 
those  of  our  party  on  this  occasion  were  Lieutenant 
Mason  and  his  wife,  his  mother,  Mrs.  Myers,  and  his 
sister,  Mrs.  Julian  James.  We  all  lived  at  the  same 
family  hotel,  and  formed  friendships  which  have  exist 
ed  up  to  the  present  time. 

During  these  days  in  London  I  would  frequently  lunch 
at  the  United  Service  Club.  Lord  Alcester  had  sent  me 
a  card  which  gave  me  the  entree  during  my  official  stay  in 
England.  I  was  glad  to  be  introduced  by  one  for  whom 
I  had  so  high  a  regard,  and  who  was  so  highly  esteemed 
by  the  members  of  the  Club.  I  shall  never  forget  those 
great  English  mutton-chops  that  were  served  to  us  for 
luncheon,  resembling  porterhouse  steaks  more  than  any 
thing  else,  nor  can  I  forget  the  general  air  of  good  cheer 
and  comfort  which  pervades  the  whole  establishment. 

While  the  Pensacola  was  lying  at  Southampton,  I  was 
a  guest  at  one  of  the  banquets  for  which  its  people  are 
quite  famous.  I  had  attended  one  on  a  former  occa 
sion,  when  Admiral  Worden  was  the  guest  of  honor,  and 
I  was  the  Captain  of  his  Flag-ship,  the  Franklin.  That 
was  a  far  more  elaborate  affair  than  the  one  about  which 
I  am  now  writing,  for  this,  as  well  as  I  remember,  was  a 
sort  of  electioneering  feast,  the  most  important  person 
present  being  Vice-Admiral  Commerel,  who  was  stand 
ing  for  Parliament  for  the  City  of  Southampton.  Com 
merel  and  I  sat  side  by  side,  and  were  both  expected  to 
make  speeches.  By  great  good  luck  mine  was  called 

315 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

for  first.  I  knew  what  was  coming,  and  was  prepared 
for  it.  I  had  strung  together  a  few  phrases  embrac 
ing  what  was,  I  thought,  the  proper  thing  to  say,  and 
had  learned  my  speech  by  heart.  I  suppose  I  stumbled 
through  it  well  enough,  for  it  was  received  with  loud 
applause,  which  I  presume  it  would  have  received  in  any 
case.  Commerel  congratulated  me,  and,  he  said,  envied 
me  at  the  same  time,  for  his  speech  was  yet  to  come, 
and  he  did  not  relish  it  any  more  than  I  had.  It  was 
altogether  a  jolly  occasion  of  speeches,  song,  and  wine. 

I  sailed  from  Southampton  with  the  Pensacola  about 
the  middle  of  October,  leaving  the  Kearsarge  behind  to 
complete  her  repairs.  I  arrived  at  Lisbon  on  the  22d, 
and  anchored  in  the  Tagus,  where  I  remained  about  a 
week.  Our  Minister  at  this  time  was  Mr.  Lewis,  a  de 
scendant  of  General  Washington's  family.  We  dined 
with  each  other,  drove  together,  and  so  the  week  of  my 
stay  passed  pleasantly  away.  I  found  Mr.  Lewis  a  rep 
resentative  of  our  country  of  whom  all  Americans  might 
feel  justly  proud.  The  British  Minister  was  Mr.  Petre, 
an  agreeable  and  accomplished  diplomat.  He  invited 
me  to  dinner,  which  invitation  I  accepted,  and  we  passed 
a  very  pleasant  evening  together. 

I  sailed  from  Lisbon  early  in  November,  arriving  on 
the  7th  at  Tangier,  Morocco,  where  I  remained  until 
the  12th.  Our  Consul  at  Tangier  was  Colonel  Mat 
thews,  who  had  filled  the  position  off  and  on  for  many 
years.  He  is  a  very  competent  man,  speaks  Arabic 
fluently,  and  has,  I  think,  always  been  persona  grata 
to  the  authorities  of  Morocco.  He  is  again  an  appli 
cant  for  his  old  position,  and  I  hope  will  succeed  in 
getting  reappointed.  While  I  was  there  Colonel  Mat 
thews  made  a  boar-hunt  for  me.  There  was  a  large 
party  of  us  from  the  ship,  but  I  think  it  was  more  of 

316 


BOAR-HUNT    AT    TANGIER 

the  nature  of  a  picnic  than  anything  else.  "We  were 
joined  about  lunch-time  by  the  ladies  of  the  Consul's 
family,  who  brought  baskets  well  filled  with  everything 
that  was  good  to  eat  and  drink.  Before  they  came  we 
had  all  been  placed  in  position  in  the  brushwood,  armed 
with  rifles  and  revolvers,  for  both  long  range  and  close 
quarters,  in  case  the  boar  should  be  wounded  and  make 
an  attack  upon  us.  The  Arabs  were  then  sent  out  for 
perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead ;  they  would  then 
deploy  and  beat  the  brush  in  front  of  them,  when  it  is 
supposed  the  frightened  boar  will  go  in  the  direction  of 
those  who  are  waiting  to  pink  him  with  a  rifle.  At  the 
same  time  the  Arabs  would  hello,  and  make  a  tremen 
dous  noise,  shouting  as  they  advanced  towards  those 
who  were  to  kill  the  boar.  On  this  occasion,  however, 
no  boar  appeared.  A  poor  unlucky  dog  ran  across 
the  line  of  fire,  was  taken  for  the  game  we  were  in 
search  of,  and  was  shot,  and  thus  ended  our  day's  sport. 
I  was  very  much  disappointed,  for  I  had  set  my  heart 
on  seeing  a  successful  issue  to  what  is  generally  found 
to  be  at  Tangier  an  exciting  day's  sport.  "We  all  now 
gathered  about  the  luncheon,  which  was  served  on  the 
ground,  and  although  we  had  not  been  successful  in 
killing  the  animal,  yet  some  cold  boar  was  served  to  us 
from  Colonel  Matthews'  baskets,  which  we  found  very 
good  indeed.  The  Consul  was  good  enough  to  get  up  a 
large  dinner-party  for  me  while  we  were  at  Tangier, 
but  a  Levanter  (an  easterly  gale)  came  up,  which  pro 
duced  such  an  ugly  sea  that  I  was  obliged  at  the  last 
moment  to  give  up  going.  I  was  very  much  disap 
pointed,  and  so  was  he,  but  it  could  not  be  helped. 

I  had  intended  remaining  in  Tangier  until  the  Levan 
ter  had  blown  out,  but  it  is  not  a  secure  harbor  in  an 
easterly  gale,  so  I  got  under  way  and  ran  over  and 

317 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

anchored  under  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar.  I  remained  at 
Gibraltar  until  the  gale  blew  itself  out,  meantime  filling 
up  the  ship  with  coal.  I  found  on  this  visit  our  Con 
sul,  Mr.  Sprague,  as  kind  and  attentive  as  ever,  losing 
no  opportunities  to  make  himself  useful,  always  doing 
something  to  hold  up  still  higher  the  American  name, 
which  both  his  father  and  himself  had  done  so  much 
to  sustain.  When  the  Levanter  was  over  I  sailed  for 
Yillefranche,  where  I  arrived  after  a  pleasant  passage 
of  six  days. 

Nearly  ten  years  had  elapsed  since  I  had  been  in 
Nice  before,  and  I  found  naturally  that  many  changes 
had  taken  place,  not  only  in  the  City  itself,  but  amongst 
the  many  friends  I  had  known  when  I  was  there  in 
command  of  the  Franklin.  Mr.  Yeasey,  the  model 
Consul  whom  we  all  liked  so  much,  was  dead  and  gone. 
Mr.  Gignoux,  at  whose  hospitable  home  I  had  passed 
so  many  pleasant  hours,  had  died,  and  great  changes 
had  taken  place  in  that  interesting  family.  His  two 
handsome  daughters  had  married  Frenchmen  of  the 
best  type  of  the  men  of  that  nation,  and  were  very 
happy  in  their  home  lives.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
them  and  their  husbands  while  they  were  on  a  visit  to 
their  mother,  who  still  resided  in  Nice.  Mr.  Yial  was 
still  living,  and  was,  as  formerly,  of  great  service  to  us 
in  providing  for  the  wants  of  the  ships,  and  in  making 
himself  useful  and  agreeable  to  the  officers  and  their 
families. 

During  my  stay  at  Yillefranche  at  this  time  the 
usual  routine  which  generally  took  place  while  our 
ships  were  there  was  carried  out.  The  crew  were  ex 
ercised  in  their  various  drills  on  board  ship,  and  by  the 
courtesy  of  the  French  Government  we  were  permitted 
to  land  the  Battalion  of  Seamen  and  Marines  for  ma- 

318 


CHRISTMAS    DINNER    AT    NICE 

noeuvres  on  shore,  while  the  boats  were  exercised  in 
fleet  sailing  in  the  waters  of  the  Bay.  The  social  life 
was  much  the  same  as  I  have  described  it  before  in  the 
course  of  this  narrative.  The  entertainments  on  board 
the  Flag-ship  were,  as  before,  the  most  popular  of  all 
the  fetes  that  were  given,  and  all  Americans  in  and 
about  Nice  that  were  entitled  to  go  to  them  were  al 
ways  invited.  Apropos  of  what  I  have  just  said,  I 
quote  from  my  letter-book  the  following  extract  from  a 
letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy :  "  The  usual  num 
ber  of  resident  and  travelling  Americans  are  now  here, 
and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  grant  them  every  facility 
for  visiting  the  ships,  which  seems  to  afford  them  great 
gratification.  In  the  low  state  of  our  merchant  ma 
rine  just  now,  it  is  about  the  only  way  they  can  expe 
rience  the  pleasure  of  seeing  our  flag  in  foreign  waters." 
Amongst  the  Americans  visiting  at  Nice  this  winter 
were  Admiral  and  Mrs.  Baldwin,  Mrs.  Nichols  Beach, 
and  her  charming  daughter.  It  occurred  to  me  that  it 
would  be  a  pleasant  thing  for  them  to  take  their  Christ 
mas  dinner  under  the  folds  of  the  American  flag.  Cap 
tain  Dewey  and  I,  therefore,  made  a  little  dinner-party 
for  them  and  a  few  other  friends,  which  I  think  they 
all  considered  a  very  happy  way  of  partaking  of  a 
Christmas  dinner  in  a  foreign  land.  Bennett's  yacht, 
the  Namouna,  was  lying  at  Yillefranche.  We  ex 
changed  calls  without  meeting,  but  I  happened  to  know 
him  by  sight,  and  stopped  him  in  the  street  at  Nice  and 
introduced  myself  to  him.  When  he  heard  my  name 
he  said,  "  Upon  my  word,  I  am  very  much  relieved, 
for  I  thought  you  were  some  French  Marshal  with 
whom  I  had  dined  and  whose  name  I  had  forgotten." 
Bennett  made  up  a  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  and 
took  us  on  a  little  sea  excursion  as  far  as  Cannes.  We 

319 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

had  breakfast  on  board,  and  found  him  a  charming 
host.  He  told  us  that  when  he  named  the  Namouna, 
he  thought  it  rather  a  stylish  Persian  name,  but  learned 
afterwards  that  it  was  as  common  in  Persia  as  Bridget 
was  in  Ireland. 

The  Pensacola  sailed  in  January  for  Naples.  Mr. 
Cope  Whitehouse,  the  Egyptologist,  went  in  her  as  pas 
senger.  He  had  a  letter  from  the  Navy  Department 
to  me,  asking  me  to  give  him  an  opportunity  of  making 
a  passage  in  a  man-of-war,  which  I  was  only  too  glad 
to  do,  for  I  was  greatly  prepossessed  in  his  favor  the 
moment  I  saw  him. 

I  did  not  go  in  the  ship  myself  to  Naples,  but  took 
advantage  of  what  seemed  a  good  opportunity  to  visit 
Rome.  Mrs.  Franklin  and  I  took  up  our  quarters  at 
the  Hotel  Quirinal.  We  remained  in  Rome  but  a  few 
days  at  this  time,  intending  to  return  there,  however, 
at  a  later  period.  After  a  brief  visit  we  went  to  Naples, 
where  I  found  the  ship  securely  moored  inside  the  mole. 
"We  went  to  the  Hotel  Nobile,  which  is  pleasantly  situ 
ated  on  high  ground  in  the  new  part  of  the  city,  where 
I  remained  during  most  of  the  time  that  the  ship  was 
in  Naples.  I  had  seen  so  much  of  this  City  when  it  was 
the  Capital  of  a  Kingdom  that  it  seemed  rather  tame 
now  compared  to  what  it  was  in  those  days.  Some  of 
the  gayety,  however,  of  the  old  Capital  still  remained. 
There  were  grand  balls  given,  at  which  the  dancing 
would  begin  at  two  o'clock.  People  who  frequented 
them  would  go  to  bed  and  have  a  partial  night's  rest, 
would  then  dress  and  make  a  night  of  it.  As  for  my 
self,  I  never  went  to  any  of  them. 

While  I  was  at  Naples  at  this  time,  our  Minister  to 
Persia  appeared  upon  the  scene,  en  route  to  the  country 
to  which  he  was  accredited.  He  had  succeeded  in  hav- 


A    MINISTER    CRITICISED 

ing  himself  created  a  Major-General  on  the  Staff  of  a 
Western  Governor.  He  was  full  of  a  marriage  which 
he  had  in  contemplation  with  a  very  charming  actress, 
a  young  woman  of  high  character,  who,  as  I  understood, 
had  promised  to  marry  him.  He  was  going  to  his  Sta 
tion  by  way  of  Constantinople,  and  as  I  was  going  there 
myself  I  told  him  that  if  he  could  arrange  a  firman 
from  the  Sultan,  permitting  the  Pensacola  to  pass  the 
Dardanelles,  he  could  be  married  on  board  the  Flag-ship. 
He  was  quite  full  of  it,  and  determined  to  make  the 
effort.  As  I  never  heard  that  the  firman  had  been 
granted,  I  presume  it  never  was,  and  my  impression  is 
that  the  marriage  never  took  place.  I  took  the  Minis 
ter  on  board  ship  with  me  one  Sunday,  and  said  to  him 
as  we  were  going  on  board  that  our  regulations  did  not 
permit  us  to  salute  on  that  day,  or  I  would  be  happy 
to  salute  him,  but  I  saw  such  an  expression  of  disap 
pointment  creep  over  his  face  that  I  took  the  respon 
sibility  and  fired  the  guns. 

When  I  was  in  Eome  for  the  short  visit  to  which  I 
have  just  referred,  I  did  myself  the  honor  of  calling 
upon  our  Minister,  Mr.  Stallo,  whom  I  found  to  be  a 
very  original  character.  He  was  not  a  Chesterfield,  and 
the  manner  in  which  he  deported  himself  as  Minister 
subjected  him  to  very  severe  criticism.  He  was  an  able 
man,  and,  I  believe,  of  very  high  character,  but  he  seemed 
unwilling  to  submit  to  the  usages  which  obtained 
amongst  his  colleagues  in  the  Diplomatic  Corps  and  had 
been  the  custom  for  centuries.  He  said  to  me  as  I  was 
taking  my  leave  of  him :  "  Admiral,  do  not  expect  me 
to  return  your  call ;  I  am  going  soon  to  Sorrento,  and 
will  return  it  at  Naples."  I  said  in  reply :  "  As  you 
please,  Mr.  Stallo.  If  you  will  let  me  know  when  you 
are  in  Naples,  I  shall  send  a  boat  for  you,  which  will 
x  321 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

take  you  on  board  ship."  He  then  said,  "  Oh  no !  I 
will  take  a  shore-boat  and  go  alongside."  I  then  told 
him  that  I  could  not  permit  him  to  do  that,  but  that 
it  was  my  desire  to  treat  him  with  all  the  respect  and 
consideration  to  which  his  high  rank  entitled  him.  His 
reply  was,  "As  you  please,"  and  so  the  matter  ended. 
I  subsequently  went  to  Home,  and  as  my  call  had  never 
been  returned  I  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  call  upon 
him  again.  I  was  in  my  hotel  one  day,  when  the  card 
of  the  Secretary  of  Legation  was  sent  to  me.  When 
he  entered  my  room  he  told  me  that  he  had  been  sent 
by  the  Minister  to  say  that  he  desired  to  see  me,  when 
I  at  once  replied  that  he  had  never  done  me  the  honor 
to  return  my  call,  and  that  if  he  desired  to  see  me  I 
could  be  found  at  almost  any  time  at  my  hotel.  After 
my  first  impulse,  however,  I  reflected  that  he  might 
wish  to  consult  me  upon  matters  connected  with  our 
Government,  and  I  concluded  to  pocket  the  affront  and 
go.  When  I  reached  his  house,  he  received  me  most 
cordially,  and  told  me  that  he  had  been  searching  for 
me,  without  success,  that  he  had  been  to  several  hotels 
to  look  for  me,  etc.,  etc.  I  found  when  I  was  closeted 
with  the  Minister  that  my  conjecture  was  correct,  and 
that  he  desired  to  consult  with  me  upon  some  matters 
in  which  our  own  Government  might  be  involved.  I 
passed  two  hours  with  him  most  pleasantly,  and  I  have 
rarely  met  with  a  more  interesting  and  agreeable  man. 
I  was  almost  willing  to  forgive  him  for  his  indifference 
to  the  etiquette  demanded  by  his  high  position. 

During  my  stay  in  Naples  at  this  time  an  extraor 
dinary  request  was  made  of  me  by  the  municipal  au 
thorities,  which  I  will  relate  in  the  form  of  an  extract 
from  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  as  follows : 
"  A  request  was  made  through  the  U.  S.  Consul  at  this 

322 


VACCINATING    A    SHIP'S    CREW 

place  yesterday  by  the  Municipal  authorities  for  per 
mission  to  come  on  board  and  examine  the  crew,  for  the 
purpose  of  identifying,  as  it  was  stated,  an  unknown ; 
they  requested  at  the  same  time  that  the  crew  might  be 
mustered  for  that  purpose.  I  told  the  Consul  to  inform 
them  that  this  was  entirely  out  of  the  question,  that  an 
American  man-of-war  was  United  States  territory,  and 
that  such  a  proceeding  was  unusual  and  unprecedented. 
It  does  not  appear  that  there  is  any  charge  against  any 
particular  man,  but  against  an  unknown  man  they  de 
sire  to  identify.  My  own  opinion  is  that  there  was  a 
sailors'  brawl  on  shore,  an  event  which  is  not  at  all  un 
usual,  and  that  some  of  our  men  happened  to  be  con 
cerned  in  it.  It  was  entirely  competent  for  the  authori 
ties  to  have  arrested  on  the  spot,  and  to  have  tried,  any 
offender  against  their  laws,  which  it  seemed  they  failed 
to  do.  I  did  not  see  how  it  was  in  my  power  to  assist 
them,  as  I  always  do  in  such  cases,  when  it  can  properly 
be  done.  I  have  mentioned  this  in  my  despatch  in  or 
der  that  the  Department  may  be  in  possession  of  the 
facts  in  case  it  should  go  any  further  ;  I  think,  however, 
that  my  refusal  to  grant  the  request  will  end  the  mat 
ter." 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  small-pox  at  Naples  at  this 
time ;  indeed,  I  do  not  believe  that  the  City  is  ever  with 
out  it.  At  the  request  of  the  Surgeon,  I  had  two  calves 
brought  on  board,  and  all  the  officers  and  men  were 
vaccinated  from  them.  It  was  a  novel  sight  to  see  this 
performance,  which  I  had  never  witnessed  on  board 
ship  before.  As  it  is  the  very  best  form  of  vaccine 
matter  to  be  had,  we  all  felt  now  pretty  well  protected 
from  this  terrible  scourge. 

The  time  was  now  approaching  when  I  intended  to 
sail  for  a  cruise  to  the  eastward.  I  took  advantage  of 

323 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

the  interval  to  make  another  visit  to  Rome.  This  time 
I  went  to  the  Hotel  Molaro,  where  we  found  ourselves 
comparatively  comfortable.  My  wife  and  I  had  the 
happiness  of  obtaining  a  card  of  admission  to  the  Pope's 
Mass,  and  of  receiving  Communion  at  the  hands  of  His 
Holiness  himself.  After  the  Mass,  I  had  the  honor  of 
a  personal  interview  with  Leo  XIII.,  and  was,  as  every 
one  is,  profoundly  impressed  with  the  personality  of 
the  distinguished  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
His  Holiness  was  very  much  interested  to  know  all 
about  the  Flag-ship.  He  asked  me  if  we  had  a  Chaplain 
on  board,  and  when  I  replied  that  we  had,  but  that  he 
was  not  of  our  persuasion,  he  did  not  seem  to  care  to 
pursue  the  conversation  on  that  subject  any  further.  I 
left  his  presence  deeply  impressed  with  what  I  had  seen 
and  heard,  and  very  much  gratified  to  have  had  this 
opportunity  of  seeing  and  conversing  with  one  of  the 
greatest  men  of  the  age. 

I  met  at  Rome  at  this  time  Mr.  Charles  H.  Marshall. 
I  had  known  him  at  home,  but  in  my  association  with 
him  at  Rome  I  formed  a  strong  friendship  for  him 
which  has  continued  up  to  the  present  time.  He  was 
quite  domesticated  here,  and  knew  everybody  that  was 
worth  knowing  in  the  place.  He  was  especially  atten 
tive  to  us,  and  his  politeness  added  very  much  to  our 
pleasure  in  the  Eternal  City.  He  was  about  making  a 
journey  to  the  East,  and,  as  I  was  going  soon  to  sail 
for  that  part  of  my  station,  I  invited  him  to  join  me 
and  accompany  me  in  the  Pensacola,  which  invitation 
he  accepted,  and  was  the  guest  of  Captain  Dewey  and 
myself  for  about  six  weeks.  I  need  not  say  that  I  en- 
jo}^ed  his  presence  on  board  very  much  indeed. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  at  this  time  Mr.  Story 
and  his  interesting  family.  The  receptions  at  his  apart- 

324 


AMERICAN  GENTLEMEN  IN  ROME 

ment  were  attended  by  the  best  people  in  Rome,  and 
were  always  most  interesting  occasions.  Story  was  an 
excellent  sculptor,  and  was  full  of  talent  of  every  kind; 
his  art  productions  are  familiar  to  all  Americans.  He 
did  me  the  honor  to  suggest  giving  me  a  dinner  at 
which  would  have  been  present  all  the  Diplomatic 
Corps,  but  my  friends  said  they  felt  it  their  duty  to 
tell  me  that,  although  I  should  be  the  guest  of  honor, 
etiquette  demanded  that  I  should  have  to  sit  below  all 
the  Ambassadors  and  Ministers.  I  felt  that  under  the 
circumstances  this  would  be  somewhat  embarrassing, 
and  so  I  was  obliged  to  decline  the  honor.  There  were 
two  Americans  here  to  whom  I  feel  under  especial  ob 
ligation — Mr.  Herriman  and  Mr.  Hazeltine.  The  former 
was  a  gentleman  of  wealth  and  culture,  who  made  Rome 
his  home ;  the  other  was  an  artist  of  great  merit,  brother- 
in-law  of  my  friend  Marshall.  Both  of  them  were 
American  gentlemen  of  the  highest  type,  and  both  lived 
in  very  handsome  style.  At  the  houses  of  these  two 
Americans  were  assembled,  twice  a  week,  a  number  of 
cultivated  men,  mostly  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  who 
would  drop  in  after  their  dinner-parties,  and  pass  the 
rest  of  the  evening  playing  whist,  and  in  conversation, 
which  was  always  bright  and  interesting,  for  they  had 
all  seen  a  great  deal,  and  were  all  men  of  the  world. 
I  attended  some  of  these  entertainments,  and  the  mem 
ory  of  them  remains  in  my  mind  as  amongst  the  most 
agreeable  evenings  I  have  ever  passed  in  any  part  of  the 
world.  They  were  always  accompanied  with  something 
to  cheer  the  passing  hours  and  keep  up  our  spirits  until 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  on  this  visit  to  Rome  Mr.  Junius  S.  Morgan. 
He  was  living  in  the  luxurious  apartment  of  Mr.  Wirts, 
and  I  shall  never  forget  the  pleasing  impression  that 

325 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

his  gentle  manners  left  upon  me  when  I  called  upon 
him  there.  I  also  know  his  son  Pierpont,  who,  like  his 
father,  is  an  excellent  specimen  of  the  American  gen 
tleman. 

One  of  the  most  pleasant  occasions  that  took  place 
while  I  was  in  Rome  at  this  time  was  a  picnic  to  Ostia, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  given  by  Mrs.  Mason,  an  Amer 
ican  lady  who  was  passing  the  winter  here,  and  whom 
I  remember  most  agreeably  for  her  kindness  and  atten 
tion  to  us  at  this  time.  Ostia  was  a  place  of  importance 
in  the  days  of  Ancient  Eome,  but  at  this  time  was  of 
no  consequence  except  as  a  place  for  excursions  and 
picnics.  My  friend  Marshall  had  intended  to  sail  with 
me  in  the  Pensacola  from  Naples  for  the  East,  but  poor 
Herriman  became  so  ill  after  our  excursion  to  Ostia  that 
he  did  not  feel  satisfied  in  leaving  Rome  while  his  friend 
was  in  such  a  critical  condition.  Both  Herriman  and 
Hazeltine  had  intended  coming  down  to  Naples  to  see 
us  off,  but  this  desperate  illness  of  the  former,  from 
which  he  came  very  near  dying,  broke  up  this  pleasant 
arrangement  altogether.  I  was  accordingly  obliged  to 
sail  without  Marshall,  much  to  my  regret. 

From  Naples  I  went  to  Messina,  and  placed  the  ship 
in  dry-dock.  I  went  myself,  accompanied  by  my  staff, 
to  a  place  up  in  the  highlands  of  Sicily,  called  Taormino. 
There  was  a  little  Sicilian  hostelry  there,  where  we  found 
ourselves  very  comfortable,  but  there  was  absolutely 
nothing  to  do  but  lounge  about  and  look  at  Mount  Etna, 
which  was  in  front  of  us,  towering  away  up  into  the 
clouds.  It  was  too  mountainous  for  walking,  and  so 
we  remained  most  of  the  time  around  our  little  hotel. 
My  Flag  Lieutenant,  my  Secretary,  and  I  would  play 
dummy-whist  three  times  a  day,  and  this  passed  the  in 
terval  of  time  between  our  meals.  The  only  occupants 

326 


ATTENDING    MASS    AT    TAORMINO 

of  the  establishment  were  two  maiden  ladies  of  a  cer 
tain  age,  who  seemed  to  have  gone  there  for  rest  and 
solitude,  for  it  was  one  of  the  loneliest  places  I  have 
ever  known,  but  very  restful.  The  scenery  was  grand, 
and  one  never  tired  of  gazing  upon  Mount  Etna,  cover 
ed  with  eternal  snow,  and  for  ever  pouring  from  its  peak 
volumes  of  steam  and  smoke.  I  happened  to  be  at  this 
place  on  a  Sunday,  and  went  to  mass,  which  was  cele 
brated  in  a  very  primitive  church.  The  congregation 
consisted  of  a  very  primitive  people.  I  reached  the 
church  too  early  for  mass,  and  so  I  waited  and  watched 
with  great  interest  the  people  as  they  came  in.  Some 
would  be  accompanied  by  very  young  children,  too 
young  to  leave  at  home  unattended,  so  the  mothers 
would  either  have  to  bring  them  or  stay  away  from 
mass  themselves ;  some  would  be  accompanied  by  dogs, 
who  would  lie  down  and  behave  themselves  decorously 
during  service.  These  people  seemed  to  feel  towards 
the  church  edifice  as  though  it  was  their  own  home, 
for  they  would  bring  their  knitting-work  and  ply  their 
needles  diligently  while  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the 
priest.  It  was  all  very  edifying,  for  it  proved  to  me 
how  earnest  they  were  in  their  faith,  and  how  they  re 
garded  going  to  mass  as  a  matter  of  course — something 
to  be  done  without  the  least  ostentation  or  display. 

As  we  were  leaving  our  little  hotel  to  get  into  the 
carriage  that  was  to  convey  us  to  Messina,  I  observed 
that  one  of  the  maiden  ladies  to  whom  I  have  referred 
above  slipped  into  the  hand  of  the  Surgeon,  who  was 
one  of  the  party,  an  envelope,  which,  upon  being  open 
ed,  was  found  to  contain  a  fee.  One  of  our  party  said, 
"  Doctor,  I  suppose  you  will  return  that,  will  you  not  ?" 
"  Not  at  all,"  he  replied ;  "  I  was  called  in  profession 
ally,  and  this  is  in  payment  of  the  services  I  rendered." 

327 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Upon  reaching  Messina,  I  found  the  Pensacola  ready 
for  sea,  so  I  got  under  way  and  went  to  Malta.  In 
making  the  passage  from  Naples  to  Malta  the  naviga 
tor  passes  the  volcano  of  Stromboli,  which  rises  abrupt 
ly  from  the  sea,  and  which  served  the  ancients  as  a 
light-house.  Its  fires  are  never  extinguished,  and  they 
burn  with  the  same  glow  that  they  did  in  those  far 
away  days.  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Straits  of  Messina,  were  considered  a  great  stum 
bling-block  to  early  navigation,  but  they  have  long  since 
ceased  to  cause  any  anxiety.  The  former,  consisting  of 
some  rocks  on  the  Calabrian  shore,  and  the  latter  of  a 
whirlpool,  might  have  been  considered  obstacles  to  small 
craft  centuries  ago. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

At  Malta — Royal  Dukes  in  Port — The  Duke  of  Edinburgh's  Ball  and 
Dinner  —  Sir  Lintorn  Simmons  —  Admiral  Ward  —  An  Excellent 
Consul — At  Alexandria — Reception  by  the  Khedive — The  Pyra 
mids—Jaffa  and  Jerusalem — American  College  at  Beirut. 

I  BEACHED  Malta  on  the  16th  of  April,  when  I  found 
at  anchor  a  large  portion  of  the  British  Fleet  under  the 
command  of  Admiral  His  Eoyal  Highness  the  Duke  of 
Edinburgh.  Prince  Alfred  and  I  exchanged  courtesies 
at  once ;  I  paid  my  respects  to  him,  and  he  returned 
my  call  almost  immediately.  It  was  early  in  the  day 
when  he  came  on  board  the  Pensacola,  and  in  doing  the 
honors  I  said  to  him :  "  Perhaps  it  is  a  little  early  for 
your  Koyal  Highness,  but  if  it  is  not  I  shall  be  happy 
to  offer  you  a  glass  of  brandy-and- water."  He  replied, 
"  Oh,  not  at  all ;  it  will  give  me  much  pleasure."  So  we 
retired  to  the  after -cabin,  and  had  our  drink  and  a 
cigarette.  I  found  the  Admiral  Duke  a  most  agreeable 
fellow,  and  had  a  very  pleasant  conversation  with  him 
at  the  time,  and  often  met  him  very  agreeably  after 
wards  during  my  stay  in  Malta.  At  the  time  he  was 
on  board  he  expressed  his  admiration  several  times  for 
a  little  water-color  of  a  mulatto  boy  painted  by  my 
sister-in-law,  Miss  Sands,  and  I  have  regretted  ever 
since  that  I  did  not  present  it  to  him. 

Serving  in  his  uncle's  fleet,  at  this  time,  was  the 
young  Duke  of  York,  the  son  of  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
who  was  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Royal  Navy.  He  was 

329 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

attached  to  a  ship  commanded  by  Captain  Stevenson. 
When  I  returned  the  Captain's  call  he  was  not  at  the 
gangway  to  receive  me,  but  a  dapper  young  fellow  with 
a  spy-glass  under  his  arm  stepped  up,  and,  apologizing 
for  the  Captain's  absence,  invited  me  to  his  cabin,  and 
said  he  would  go  immediately  and  inform  him  that  I 
was  on  board.  It  turned  out  that  this  young  gentle 
man  was  the  Prince  himself,  who  was  the  officer  of  the 
watch  when  I  went  on  board.  The  Commanding  Offi 
cer,  who  had  been  unavoidably  detained,  soon  appeared 
in  his  cabin,  the  Prince  accompanying  him  as  far  as  the 
door ;  he  was  rushing  off  to  resume  his  duties  on  deck, 
when  the  Captain  called  him  in  and  introduced  him.  I 
had  half  suspected  it  was  he  all  the  time,  but  was  not 
at  all  sure.  I  found  him  a  very  pleasant  young  fellow, 
and  invited  him  to  come  and  see  me  on  board  the  Pen- 
sacola,  and  told  him  I  would  be  glad  to  have  a  battal 
ion  drill  for  him.  He  seemed  very  much  gratified,  and 
accepted  my  invitation  with  apparent  pleasure.  In  a 
day  or  two  afterwards  he  and  Captain  Stevenson  came 
on  board,  and  I  gave  him  the  function  I  had  promised. 
He  expressed  himself  very  much  pleased,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  he  was,  for  our  Blue-Jackets,  Marines, 
and  Band,  organized  as  a  battalion,  made  a  very  hand 
some  display.  I  then  took  him  below,  and  gave  him 
a  glass  of  wine  and  a  cigarette.  I  remember  his  ask 
ing  me,  as  we  were  smoking  our  cigarettes,  whether  I 

o  o  o 

inhaled.  I  did  not  quite  understand  then  what  it  meant, 
but  I  have  learned  since  that  it  is  the  act  of  drawing  the 
smoke  into  one's  lungs,  and  then  letting  it  remain  for 
a  while  and  puffing  it  out  again.  Since  then  the  Duke 
of  York  has  married,  and  is  the  father  of  a  small  fam 
ily.  He  is  heir-presumptive  of  the  Throne  of  the  British 
Empire. 


DINING    WITH    DUKE   OF    EDINBURGH 

I  was  invited  by  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Edinburgh 
to  the  grand  ball  given  to  the  citizens  of  Malta  and  the 
officers  of  the  fleet  and  their  families.  I  danced  in 
the  opening  quadrille  in  the  Duke's  set,  having  for  my 
partner  an  American  woman,  who  had  married  an  offi 
cer  in  the  British  Navy,  whose  name,  I  regret  to  say, 
I  have  forgotten.  Afterwards  I  took  the  Duchess  into 
supper,  and  we  sat  down  at  the  table  with  two  others, 
forming  a  partie  carrte.  I  found  the  Duchess  had  a 
charming  personality ;  she  chatted  away  at  the  supper- 
table,  and  made  herself  most  agreeable.  I  was  quite 
prepared  to  like  her,  for  I  was  told  that  in  the  passage 
out  in  the  Royal  Yacht  Osborne  the  weather  was  very 
bad,  and  her  maids  all  became  sea -sick,  so  that  the 
entire  care  of  her  children  devolved  upon  herself ;  she 
bathed  and  dressed  them,  and  did  all  the  work  for  them 
that  the  maids  were  accustomed  to  do.  She  proved,  on 
this  occasion,  that,  although  she  was  a  Royal  Duchess, 
she  was  entirely  equal  to  the  care  of  her  children  when 
occasion  required,  and  although  I  suppose  any  woman, 
whatever  might  have  been  her  rank,  would  have  done 
the  same  thing,  yet  I  could  not  resist  a  feeling  of  ad 
miration  for  her  on  this  account  when  I  met  her  face  to 
face. 

The  Duke  invited  me  to  dine  with  him  and  the 
Duchess  at  the  Palace  of  St.  Antonio,  near  Yaletta.  I 
occupied  the  seat  of  honor  on  the  right  of  the  Duchess, 
having  followed  immediately  after  her  as  we  walked 
into  the  dining-room  from  the  anteroom  in  which  we 
had  all  assembled  before  dinner.  Into  this  anteroom 
had  been  brought  the  little  Prince  and  Princess,  the 
former  in  the  dress  of  a  sailor.  I  do  not  know  that 
this  was  the  custom  before  the  State  dinners,  and  flat 
tered  myself  that  the  little  sailor-man  was  produced  in 

331 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAK-ADMIRAL 

order  that  he  might  see  the  American  Admiral.  I  found 
the  Duchess  a  most  agreeable  dinner-table  companion. 
The  occasion  passed  off  very  pleasantly;  while  there 
was  sufficient  reserve  on  the  part  of  the  host  and  host 
ess  to  give  dignity  to  the  affair,  yet  no  one  was  made 
to  feel  that  it  must  necessarily  be  an  occasion  of  great 
formality.  As  one,  naturally,  is  more  observant  at  such 
times,  I  noticed  the  disposition  that  the  Duchess  made 
of  her  impedimenta.  As  she  took  her  seat  at  the  table 
she  placed  on  her  left,  advanced  about  six  inches  from 
the  edge  of  the  table,  her  fan,  her  gloves,  and  her  lorg- 
non  close  alongside  of  each  other,  so  that  they  occupied 
very  little  space  and  did  not  at  all  interfere  with  her 
left-hand  neighbor.  I  am  thus  particular  in  citing  this 
little  incident,  because  I  have  so  often  witnessed  the 
struggle  that  ladies  have  with  these  articles,  in  their 
efforts  to  dispose  of  them  so  as  not  to  be  embarrassed 
by  them,  that  I  thought  if  any  one  who  might  by 
chance  read  this  narrative  had  no  better  system  of 
their  own,  it  might  not  be  a  bad  plan  to  follow  that  of 
the  Duchess.  After  dinner  I  sat  down  to  a  whist-table 
consisting  of  Her  Eoyal  Highness,  two  officers  of  the 
British  Army,  and  myself.  We  played  for  shilling 
points,  and  the  Duchess,  who,  by  the  way,  was  an  ex 
cellent  player,  was,  I  think,  when  we  settled  at  the  end 
of  the  game,  about  the  only  winner.  She  was  most 
amiable  all  the  time,  and  by  her  gracious  manner  caused 
the  evening  to  pass  very  agreeably.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  hurnor  in  her  conversation,  visible  from  time  to 
time.  I  remember  when  we  happened  to  be  talking 
about  the  Captain  of  her  husband's  Flag-ship,  she  said, 
"  I  do  not  like  to  play  with  Captain  Fellows,  he  always 
scolds  me  so."  Fellows,  by  the  way,  was  a  very  supe 
rior  player,  and  he  no  doubt  suggested  sometimes  to 

332 


SIR    LINTORN    SIMMONS 

Her  Highness  how  she  might  have  made  a  better  play, 
and  she  put  it,  in  her  humorous  way,  as  scolding  her. 
My  whole  intercourse  with  these  distinguished  person 
ages  was  most  agreeable,  and  I  recall  it  all  with  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure. 

Sir  Lintorn  Simmons  was  at  this  time  the  Governor- 
General  of  Malta.  He  was  a  distinguished  soldier  of 
high  repute,  and  his  fine  appearance  and  military  bear 
ing  marked  him  as  a  fine  specimen  of  the  British  gen 
eral  officer.  I  had  the  honor  of  dining  with  him  several 
times  during  my  stay  at  Malta,  and  Lady  Simmons  did 
me  the  honor  of  coming  on  board  the  Pensacola  two  or 
three  times  during  my  visit  there.  It  was  an  agreeable 
and  interesting  family,  that  of  the  Governor,  and  they 
added  very  much  to  the  pleasure  of  my  sojourn  at  this 
interesting  stronghold  of  Great  Britain.  The  palace  of 
the  Governor  was  perhaps  the  finest  of  those  occupied 
by  the  old  Knights  of  Malta.  The  stairway,  if  it  might 
be  so  called,  was  so  gentle  in  its  ascent  that  one  could 
easily  ride  up  on  horseback.  The  dining- hall  was  an 
immense  apartment,  the  walls  of  which  were  covered 
by  the  portraits  of  many  a  grim  old  warrior,  while  the 
halls  were  lined  with  the  armor  which  their  originals 
once  wore.  One  is  vividly  reminded  by  everything 
he  sees  of  the  downfall  and  decay  of  these  warrior 
Knights,  and  is  gratified  to  feel  that  the  legacy  has 
fallen  into  such  good  hands.  The  Governor-General  was 
very  proud  of  his  dining-table,  which  he  had  had  con 
structed  according  to  his  own  idea;  it  was  a  kind  of  sharp 
ellipse,  so  made  that  the  host  without  effort  could  see 
every  one  of  his  guests.  In  the  central  part  of  this 
ellipse  was  a  large  mirror,  so  arranged  that  it  had  the 
effect  of  a  lake  dotted  with  islands.  Forty  people  could 
easily  be  seated  at  the  table,  which  I  think  was  the 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

number  that  sat  down  to  it  the  first  day  that  I  dined 
there. 

This  distinguished  British  General  was  a  great  ad 
mirer  of  General  Grant.  He  had  just  finished  reading 
his  book,  and  told  me  that  before  that  he  was  not  an 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  General,  but  he  said  that 
the  events  described  therein,  in  which  he  was  actively 
engaged,  were  so  clearly  the  result  of  great  military 
genius  that  he  could  not  fail  to  award  to  him  general 
ship  of  the  very  highest  order. 

The  officer  who  commanded  the  Dockyard  at  Malta 
at  this  time  was  Eear- Admiral  "Ward.  We  had  known 
each  other,  I  was  going  to  say,  from  infancy ;  as  a  mat 
ter  of  fact,  we  first  met  as  Midshipmen  in  the  Pacific, 
away  back  in  the  forties ;  afterwards  we  met  when  I 
commanded  the  AroostooJc,  as  one  of  the  blockading 
fleet  off  Mobile.  He  was  commanding  a  British  ship-of- 
war  at  the  time,  and  visited  our  fleet  to  communicate 
with  the  Senior  Officer  present ;  he  sent  me  some  bot 
tles  of  rum,  which  were  most  acceptable.  Ward  and  I 
again  met  in  the  Mediterranean ;  he  commanded  the 
ironclad  Swiftsure,  and  I  was  Captain  of  the  Wabash. 
Then  again,  as  I  have  before  stated,  he  was  in  com 
mand  at  Malta,  when  I  was  Commander -in -Chief  of 
the  European  Station ;  and,  finally,  we  met  again  in 
Washington,  only  a  few  years  ago.  There  was  a  sin 
gular  parallelism  in  our  careers,  continuing  from  the 
time  we  were  both  Midshipmen  up  through  all  the 
grades  until  we  became  Kear- Admirals.  He  gave  me  a 
very  handsome  dinner  at  Malta,  at  which  were  present 
the  young  Duke  of  York  and  many  other  notables. 

The  American  Consul  was  Mr.  John  Worthington. 
He  and  his  charming  wife  were  great  favorites,  not 
only  with  the  Government  people,  but  with  the  Maltese 

334 


GRANTED   AUDIENCE    BY    THE    KHEDIVE 

generally ;  their  tastes  were  such  as  to  commend  them  in 
a  high  degree  at  a  Military  Post  such  as  Malta  is,  where 
a  mere  politician  would  be  entirely  out  of  place.  Mr. 
Worthington  remained  in  this  position  for  twelve  years ; 
he  held  over  the  first  term  of  the  Cleveland  administra 
tion,  but  was  superseded  during  the  second.  He  is 
again  an  applicant  for  his  old  place,  and  I  sincerely 
hope  he  will  be  successful  in  getting  it.  The  Worthing- 
tons  had  as  a  guest  at  their  house  a  relative,  Miss 
Gregory.  I  was  a  guest  at  the  same  time,  and  occu 
pied  a  room  which  had  been  hers  before  it  was  mine ; 
in  the  closet  of  this  room  her  dresses  were  still  hanging. 
One  evening  when  I  was  absent  from  the  house,  and 
she  was  dressing  for  an  entertainment  of  some  kind, 
having  already  donned  her  satin  slippers,  she  approached 
this  closet  for  the  purpose  of  getting  her  gown,  when 
she  plumped  both  slippered  feet  into  my  bath-tub,  which 
happened  at  the  time  to  be  filled  with  water.  I  met 
her  only  a  few  years  ago,  when  the  incident  was  still 
fresh  in  her  memory.  She  was  a  very  interesting  young 
girl,  very  pretty  and  very  attractive.  She  is  now  the 
wife  of  Commander  Savory,  of  the  Ro}^al  Navy.  Worth 
ington  took  passage  with  us  to  Alexandria,  and  was  the 
guest  of  the  Captain  and  myself  for  a  week  or  more. 
My  friend  Marshall  joined  the  ship  at  Malta. 

My  visit,  which  was  a  very  satisfactory  one,  was  now 
at  an  end,  and  I  sailed  for  Alexandria,  where  I  arrived 
early  in  May.  I  quote  from  my  report  to  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  presence  of  the  ship  there  the  following : 
"  On  my  arrival  here  I  communicated  with  the  Consul- 
General  at  Cairo,  informing  him  that  I  desired  an  au 
dience  with  His  Highness  the  Khedive.  The  audience 
was  promptly  granted,  and  I  accordingly  proceeded  to 
Cairo  with  the  members  of  my  staff,  and  was  received 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

by  the  Khedive  on  May  8th.  His  reception  was  of 
the  most  cordial  and  friendly  nature.  He  expressed 
himself  as  having  the  most  kindly  feelings  towards  the 
United  States,  and  referred  with  great  pleasure  to  his 
association  with  General  Stone  and  the  other  Americans 
who  had  served  in  his  Army.  After  a  reasonable  time 
spent  with  His  Highness  I  retired,  much  gratified  with  the 
reception  which  he  had  given  me."  During  the  audience 
Chibouks  were  brought  in  filled  with  the  most  delicious 
Turkish  tobacco.  A  number  of  slaves,  with  Fez  caps 
on  their  heads  and  with  skins  so  black  that  charcoal 
would  make  a  white  mark  on  them,  placed  these  in  our 
hands,  and  then  each  one  that  had  given  us  the  pipes 
returned  with  a  live  coal  to  the  guest  whom  he  had 
before  served  and  placed  it  in  the  bowl  of  his  pipe. 
Coffee  was  then  brought  in,  and,  while  we  conversed, 
we  smoked  and  sipped  our  coffee,  and  enjoyed  the  nov 
elty  of  the  occasion. 

A  visit  to  the  Khedive  is  attended  with  a  good  deal 
of  ceremony.  For  instance,  the  carriage  which  contains 
the  visitor,  if  he  is  of  sufficiently  high  rank,  is  pre 
ceded  by  what  is  called  a  Sais.  He  is  a  man  dressed 
in  a  showy  uniform,  with  a  staff  in  his  hand,  who  runs 
at  a  rapid  pace  about  twenty  yards  in  advance  of  the 
conveyance.  The  idea  is,  I  presume,  to  clear  the  way 
as  a  sort  of  avant-coureur  for  the  distinguished  comers. 
On  our  arrival  at  the  rail  way -station  at  Cairo,  I  was 
very  much  struck  with  the  manner  in  which  the  Sta 
tion-Master  seemed  to  preserve  order.  When  a  train 
comes  in  there  is  a  rush  of  baggage-carriers  for  the  un 
wary  traveller  in  such  force  that  if  one  is  not  careful 
his  hand-baggage  will  be  seized  by  these  importunate 
Egyptians,  who  insist  upon  carrying  it  nolens -volens. 
This  wave  of  humanity  is,  however,  generally  arrested 

336 


"DOING"    THE    PYRAMIDS 

by  the  Station-Master,  who  stands  at  the  top  of  the 
steps  as  one  ascends  towards  the  station,  brandishing 
a  horsewhip  with  a  lash  long  enough  to  sweep  the 
crowd ;  this  he  brings  down  every  now  and  then  with 
a  tremendous  whack,  and  thus  manages  in  a  general 
way  to  keep  the  gang  at  bay.  Lieutenant  Staunton,  of 
my  staff,  remarked  as  he  witnessed  this  scene,  "  Well, 
a  people  that  will  stand  that  sort  of  thing  does  not  de 
serve  to  be  free." 

Our  party  all  put  up  at  Shepheard's  Hotel,  which 
seemed  to  be  the  best  in  Cairo.  Although  it  was  early 
in  May,  the  weather  was  intensely  hot,  and  the  flies 
were  so  thick  that  one  was  obliged  to  keep  some  sort 
of  fly-brush  always  on  hand.  I  never  saw  these  pests 
in  greater  numbers  than  they  were  at  Cairo  at  this 
time.  I  presume  as  one  ascends  the  Nile  they  are  less 
in  number,  or  I  cannot  conceive  how  the  trip  up  the 
river  could  be  enjoyable.  The  British  had  been  in  pos 
session  of  Egypt  for  some  time  when  I  wras  at  Cairo, 
and  the  City  was  as  orderly  as  possible ;  one  could  roam 
the  streets  then  at  any  time  without  fear  of  molesta 
tion.  This  civilizing  people  are  still  there,  and  I  hope 
they  are  there  to  stay.  Wherever  they  go  they  seem 
to  influence  the  inhabitants  for  good.  They  bring  or 
der  out  of  chaos,  cleanliness  out  of  filth,  and  good  out 
of  everything.  Our  Consul  -  General  at  Cairo  at  this 
time  was  Mr.  Caldwell,  a  very  efficient  officer,  who  thor 
oughly  appreciated  his  position,  and  was  most  zealous 
in  the  performance  of  his  duties. 

Unless  one  ascends  the  Nile,  there  is  really  not  much 
to  see  or  do  in  this  part  of  Egypt  after  having  made  a 
visit  to  the  Pyramids  and  Museum.  Our  party  made 
the  first  of  these  excursions  in  a  body.  Some  of  them 
ascended  Cheops,  the  greatest  of  all  the  Pyramids,  and 
Y  337 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

entered  the  place  of  the  tombs,  but  I  was  satisfied  to 
look  on  and  see  them  tugging  their  way  to  the  top.  It 
is  a  difficult  work,  and  one  should  be  young  and  vigor 
ous  to  undertake  it.  The  guides  are  very  expert,  and, 
of  course,  are  of  great  assistance  to  those  who  mount 
these  vast  structures;  the  visitors  have  to  be  boosted 
up,  and  almost  lifted  at  times,  from  one  step  to  the 
other.  There  was  a  time  when  some  of  the  most  expert 
guides  would  for  a  consideration  mount  like  monkeys 
to  the  top  of  the  great  Pyramid  and  then  rush  down  at 
a  breakneck  pace  to  the  bottom ;  and  when  it  is  remem 
bered  that  some  of  the  steps  are  from  four  to  six  feet 
high,  it  will  be  seen  how  hazardous  it  seems.  Those 
who  were  in  the  habit  of  performing  this  feat  almost 
always  died  of  heart  disease,  so  that  the  Egyptian  Gov 
ernment  intervened,  and  finally  forbade  it  altogether. 
So  much  has  been  said  and  written  about  the  Great 
Pyramids  and  the  Sphinx  that  I  propose  to  touch  very 
lightly  upon  them  here.  Descriptions  of  them  are  fa 
miliar  to  all  those  who  are  interested  in  Egypt  and 
Egyptology.  I  will  only  say  that  they  are  great  won 
ders,  and  that  it  is  worth  a  trip  across  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  to  see  them.  The  American  Egyptologist,  Mr. 
Cope  Whitehouse,  who  has  been  a  student  of  everything 
Egyptian  for  many  years,  I  have  been  told  has  a  the 
ory  that  the  Pyramids  were  built  from  the  top  down, 
and  when  one  reflects  upon  the  immense  undertaking 
of  transporting  the  great  blocks  of  stone  of  which  they 
are  composed  from  the  base  to  a  point  five  hundred 
feet  above,  it  would  seem  that  there  might  be  some 
thing  plausible  in  his  theory.  I  have  never  heard  that 
any  one  else  agreed  with  him.  He  had  another  theory, 
which  was  that  if  Lake  Moeris  could  be  restored  to 
what  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  Ancients,  the  surround- 


AT    CAIRO,  JAFFA,  AND    BEIRUT 

ing  country  would  be  as  fertile  as  it  was  in  the  time  of 
Joseph. 

When  I  was  in  Cairo  the  Museum  was  in  charge  of 
the  greatest  of  all  Egyptologists,  Maspero.  He  person 
ally  conducted  me  around  that  interesting  institution, 
and  pointed  out  to  me,  amongst  other  mummies,  that 
of  Rameses  II.,  one  of  Egypt's  most  famous  Monarchs  ; 
I  think  he  reigned  when  the  Children  of  Israel  were 
captives  in  that  country.  My  visit  to  the  Museum  was 
so  hurried  that  it  has  left  a  very  faint  impression  upon 
my  mind,  but  I  remember  how  interesting  it  was  to 
wander  around  amongst  the  relics  of  this  famous  portion 
of  the  globe.  Our  party  returned  to  Alexandria,  and 
soon  after  our  arrival  there  I  sailed  for  the  North. 
Before  leaving  I  wrote  to  the  Department  a  letter,  from 
which  I  extract  the  following :  "  Everything  seems  to 
be  quiet  in  Egypt  at  present,  and  the  British  are  about 
to  withdraw  some  of  their  troops,  but  it  does  not  ap 
pear  at  all  likely  that  they  will  remove  them  altogether 
in  the  near  future,  if  they  do  at  all."  I  arrived  at 
Jaffa  about  the  middle  of  May.  While  there  I  gave 
the  officers  and  crew  an  opportunity  of  visiting  Jeru 
salem,  of  which  twenty  -  five  officers  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty  seamen  availed  themselves. 

At  Jaffa  the  house  of  Simon  the  Tanner  was  pointed 
out  to  me.  I  went  from  Jaffa  to  Beirut,  and  met  there 
the  Governor-General  of  Lebanon,  who,  in  accordance 
with  the  treaty  between  Turkey  and  the  Powers,  must 
be  a  Christian.  He  was  a  charming,  agreeable  man ;  if 
I  remember  aright  this  was  Rustem  Pasha,  an  Italian 
by  birth.  While  at  Beirut  I  wrote  to  the  Department 
as  follows : 

"  The  presence  of  the  Squadron  here  seems  to  have 
been  a  source  of  great  gratification  to  the  American 

339 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Missionaries;  they  felt  that  it  strengthened  their  posi 
tion  very  much  with  the  Ottoman  authorities,  and  en 
couraged  them  in  the  good  work  in  which  they  are 
employed. 

"  The  American  College,  of  which  Dr.  Bliss,  a  Pres 
byterian  clergyman,  is  at  the  head,  is  in  a  very  flourish 
ing  condition.  In  addition  to  the  college  proper,  there 
are  attached  to  the  institution  a  Theological  Seminary 
and  a  Medical  School.  The  establishment  is  not  at  all 
sectarian  in  its  character,  but  opens  its  doors  to  every 
branch  of  the  Christian  and  Mohammedan  faiths.  I 
gave  the  Missionaries  a  very  cordial  invitation  to  visit 
the  Pensacola,  of  which  they  availed  themselves,  and  it 
was  gratifying  to  see  how  much  pleasure  it  gave  them 
to  find  themselves  for  the  time  under  the  protection  of 
their  own  Flag.  They  held  a  reception  on  shore,  which 
was  largely  attended  by  the  officers  in  uniform.  The 
Orientals  are  so  much  impressed  by  display  that  when 
ever  I  desire  to  sustain  the  Consular  Office  or  give 
strength  to  the  Missionaries  I  direct  that  the  uniform 
shall  be  worn." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

Damascus — Entrance  to  the  City — Shops  and  Churches — The  Public 
Gardens — Scriptural  Scenes — Damascene  Houses — Constantinople 
— "Sunset"  Cox — Courtesy  from  the  Sultan — The  Salaamlic — 
Audience  at  the  Sublime  Porte — Social  Enjoyments — The  Charms 
of  Prinkapo — An  American  Prima  Donna  —  Dining  at  the 
Palace. 

I  TOOK  advantage  of  the  presence  of  the  Flag-ship  at 
Beirut  to  make  a  visit  to  Damascus.  My  party  con 
sisted  of  Lieutenant  Staunton,  my  Flag  -  Lieutenant ; 
Lieutenant  Potts,  my  Secretary;  and  my  friend  Mr. 
Marshall,  who  was  now  on  board  the  Pensacola.  We 
made  a  very  early  start,  I  think  about  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  were  soon  rattling  over  a  beautiful 
macadamized  road  at  the  rate  of  eight  to  ten  miles  an 
hour.  The  vehicle  was  a  comfortable  diligence  of  the 
French  pattern;  the  road  and  everything  connected 
with  it  were  the  property  of  a  French  company.  The 
distance  to  Damascus  was  about  seventy  miles,  and  we 
changed  horses,  I  think,  ten  times,  so  we  always  had  a 
comparatively  fresh  team.  The  journey  across  the  Leb 
anon  and  Anti- Lebanon  mountains,  although  a  long 
drive,  was  not  fatiguing.  The  Druses  who  occupy  this 
region  are  Christians,  and  I  think  Roman  Catholics ; 
they  were  extremely  polite  to  us  as  we  passed  along 
through  their  country,  almost  to  obsequiousness,  and 
would  raise  both  hands  over  their  heads  and  bow  almost 
to  the  ground,  always  expressing  with  a  pleasant  smile 

341 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

their  gladness  to  see  us  amongst  them.  The  country 
through  which  we  drove,  especially  in  crossing  the 
mountains,  was  arid  and  uninteresting.  Almost  parallel 
with  the  beautiful  smooth  surface  over  which  we  were 
travelling  was  the  old  track  or  roadway,  if  it  deserves 
the  name,  which  has  been  in  use  for  centuries.  The 
caravans  of  camels  and  donkeys,  which  in  order  to 
avoid  the  toll  always  traverse  this  path,  made  a  very 
picturesque  feature  of  the  landscape.  These  Ships  of 
the  Desert,  as  the  camels  are  called,  were  transporting 
supplies  from  the  coast  and  the  rich  valleys  of  Syria 
and  Asia  Minor  to  Damascus  in  the  desert.  Except  to 
change  horses,  we  made  but  one  stop  during  the  whole 
journey,  and  this  was  at  the  junction  where  a  road 
leads  to  Baalbec,  about  half-way  between  Beirut  and 
Damascus.  "We  were  very  anxious  to  visit  these  famous 
ruins,  perhaps  the  grandest  in  the  world,  and  were 
deterred  from  doing  so  only  by  our  unwillingness  to 
submit  to  what  we  considered  to  be  an  imposition,  for 
instead  of  charging  us  the  fare  from  the  junction  to 
Baalbec,  they  insisted  that  we  should  pay  all  the  way 
from  Beirut  in  addition  to  the  fare  we  had  already 
paid  to  that  point.  This  was  too  much  opposed  to  our 
American  ideas  of  fair  play,  so  we  abandoned  the  trip 
altogether.  I  regretted  afterwards  that  we  had  not 
permitted  ourselves  to  be  imposed  upon,  rather  than 
to  have  missed  seeing  these  interesting  ruins.  After 
leaving  the  junction  referred  to  above,  we  traversed  a 
country  in  which  one  sees  scarcely  a  blade  of  grass ; 
from  that  point  until  one  reaches  Damascus  it  is  a 
barren  desert.  Not  a  dwelling  nor  a  tree  is  seen  for 
miles  and  miles,  when  suddenly  the  City  of  Damascus 
comes  in  full  view,  and  a  thrill  of  delight  passes  through 
the  mind  at  the  sight  of  the  green  trees  and  flowering 

342 


IN    DAMASCUS 

meadows  which  go  to  make  up  this  charming  oasis.  At 
about  one  league's  distance  from  the  City,  the  diligence 
reaches  the  River  Bareda,  and  then  comes  what  seems 
like  a  race  between  the  diligence  and  the  river.  The 
horses  are  put  at  their  highest  speed,  and  the  river,  as  it 
rushes  and  dashes  and  splashes  along,  seems  almost  to 
gain  on  the  diligence.  From  that  time  until  Damascus 
is  reached,  which  seems  but  a  few  moments,  the  excite 
ment  is  very  great ;  the  driver,  the  horses,  the  passen 
gers,  and  even  the  diligence  itself,  all  seem  to  partake 
of  the  general  enthusiasm.  The  Bareda  as  it  enters 
Damascus  divides  itself  into  three  separate  streams,  each 
one  taking  a  different  course  as  it  flows  through  the 
City,  so  that  no  portion  is  left  without  the  cleansing  and 
fertilizing  effect  of  its  waters. 

When  we  alighted  at  our  hotel  we  found  a  comfort 
able  bath  awaiting  us,  after  which  we  sat  down  to  an 
excellent  dinner,  and  it  was  difficult  to  realize  that  we 
were  now  in  the  land  of  the  Arab  and  the  Bedouin. 
We  were  so  little  fatigued  by  the  journey  that  I  sat 
down  with  my  staff  officers  and  played  several  games  of 
dummy-whist.  Our  representative  here  was  a  commer 
cial  agent;  I  am  not  quite  sure  of  his  nationality,  but 
he  was  a  subject  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  and  I  think  a 
Christian.  He  was  bed-ridden,  but  was  very  anxious 
to  meet  me,  so  I  called  upon  him  in  his  bedroom.  He 
was  a  fine-looking  fellow,  with  a  -strongly  marked  East 
ern  face.  He  had  never  been  to  America,  but  was  a 
most  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  country  which  he  rep 
resented.  Of  course  his  health  was  such  that  he  could 
not  give  us  his  personal  attention,  but  his  son,  an  intel 
ligent  young  fellow,  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  make 
things  agreeable  for  us,  and  acted  as  our  cicerone  dur 
ing  the  whole  of  our  stay.  Turkish  towns  are  so  much 

343 


MEMORIES    OF   A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

alike,  and  the  bazaars  so  nearly  resemble  one  another, 
that  what  one  sees  in  Constantinople  he  sees  in  every 
other  place,  perhaps  on  a  smaller  scale.  The  imper 
turbable  Turk  sits  cross-legged  on  a  sort  of  platform, 
which  is  a  part  of  his  store,  and  is  surrounded  by  his 
wares.  These  bazaars  are  directly  on  the  street ;  im 
mediately  behind  the  place  where  the  proprietor  sits 
is  a  doorway  leading  to  a  sort  of  warehouse,  where  he 
keeps  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  the  special  article  in 
which  he  deals.  Each  street  has  its  specialty :  there  is 
a  street  for  rugs,  another  for  shoes,  another  for  tinware, 
another  for  brass  ware,  and  so  on.  I  was  very  much 
interested  in  an  artificer  of  brassware.  He  was  em 
ployed  manufacturing  plaques,  which  were  repousse 
work.  He  would  place  the  plaque  on  a  sort  of  anvil, 
or  rather  on  that  which  served  its  purpose.  This  was  an 
ordinary  barrel  sawed  in  half  and  then  filled  with  pitch, 
which,  when  it  hardened,  would  become  the  anvil.  He 
would  then  place  the  plaque  upon  it,  and  it  would  pre 
sent  just  resistance  enough  to  enable  him  to  work  with 
ease.  I  purchased  a  couple  of  these  plaques  from  him, 
and  I  prize  them,  not  for  their  intrinsic  value,  but  be 
cause  they  are  very  curious  specimens  of  that  particular 
art.  Our  guide  showed  us  all  there  was  to  be  seen  in 
Damascus,  which,  after  all,  is  not  very  much. 

I  went  to  church,  and  was  surprised  to  see  the  Chris 
tian  women  masked  like  the  Orientals.  I  did  not  know 
then  that  it  was  the  custom,  but  it  seems  that  it  belongs 
to  the  East,  and  not  to  any  particular  sect.  While  the 
Mohammedans  mask  at  all  times,  my  impression  is 
that  the  Christians  and  the  Jews  do  so  only  on  special 
occasions,  for  on  visiting  the  Public  Gardens,  where  the 
women  assemble  in  great  numbers,  I  have  no  recollec 
tion  that  any  of  them  were  masked.  It  was  very  in- 

344 


SIGHTS    OF    DAMASCUS 

teresting  to  visit  these  gardens  and  witness  the  distinc 
tion  amongst  the  different  sects.  The  Christians  would 
sit  in  clusters  by  themselves;  at  some  distance  from 
them  would  be  an  assemblage  of  Jewish  women,  and 
at  about  equal  distances  from  these  two  sects  would  be 
the  Mohammedans.  Not  a  man  was  to  be  seen  amongst 
them.  The  Oriental  idea  cannot  brook  anything  which 
violates  custom.  The  gardens  were  pretty  places,  filled 
with  flowers  and  shrubbery,  traversed  by  little  streams 
diverted  from  the  Bareda  Kiver,  which  added  very  much 
to  the  beauty  of  these  places  of  resort.  We  would  sit 
apart,  smoking  our  narghiles  and  sipping  coffee,  while 
enjoying  the  novelt}''  of  the  scene. 

One  of  the  most  curious  spectacles  which  I  witnessed 
was  the  general  bazaar,  or  market,  where  can  be  seen, 
if  it  might  be  so  called,  the  peasantry  of  that  part  of  the 
East  selling  their  wares.  Amongst  others  were  some 
Bedouins  of  the  desert,  who  scowled  at  us  as  if  they 
would  like  to  cut  our  throats — a  thing  they  probably 
would  have  done  if  they  had  found  us  in  some  by -place 
where  there  would  have  been  no  fear  of  discovery.  The 
time  of  the  last  massacre  of  the  Christians  was  not  so 
far  remote  as  to  make  it  entirely  safe  for  them  even 
then.  When  we  went  about  the  streets  in  our  carriage, 
the  driver  would  drive  recklessly  amongst  the  crowd, 
and  I  was  in  constant  dread  that  he  would  kill  some 
one,  then  we  probably  should  have  been  mobbed  out 
right,  which,  in  all  likelihood,  would  have  been  the  end 
of  us. 

We  saw  the  street  spoken  of  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apos 
tles  as  "the  street  which  is  called  Straight,"  which,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  is  crooked ;  but  great  changes  have 
taken  place  since  the  Apostles'  days,  and  it  may  have 
been  straight  at  that  time.  We  were  shown  the  place 

345 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

in  the  wall  where  St.  Paul  was  let  down  in  a  basket,  and 
I  can  quite  understand  how  the  spot  could  have  been 
marked,  and  known  to  generation  after  generation  to 
the  present  time. 

Damascus  is  said  to  be  the  oldest  city  in  the  world  at 
this  time.  Our  Consul  at  Beirut,  Mr.  Bissinger,  who 
was  an  excellect  Oriental  scholar,  gave  me  a  list  of  the 
different  places  in  the  Bible  where  it  is  mentioned.  I 
think  they  were  eighteen  in  number,  beginning  with  the 
Book  of  Genesis.  The  Turkish  dog,  which  is  of  no  par 
ticular  breed,  exists  here  in  great  numbers.  As  at 
Constantinople,  they  are  the  only  scavengers,  and  but 
for  their  presence  these  Eastern  cities  would  be  more 
pestilential  than  they  are  now,  for  I  doubt  if  the  in 
habitants  would  take  the  trouble  to  remove  what  the 
dogs  devour.  They  are  a  noisy,  yelping  set,  but  so  use 
ful  that  they  are  never  seriously  molested;  they  are 
cuffed  and  kicked,  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  never  are 
killed.  These  dogs  do  not  belong  to  any  one,  but  might 
be  considered  the  property  of  the  State ;  they  go  on  from 
generation  to  generation,  unthought  of  and  uncared 
for;  their  kennels  are  the  street -corners,  where  may 
often  be  seen  a  mother  with  a  litter  of  puppies.  The 
noise  of  these  brutes  is  something  very  annoying.  I 
remember  when  I  was  lying  in  my  Flag-ship,  the  Kear- 
sarge,  close  to  shore  at  Constantinople,  every  now  and 
then  I  would  hear  a  dog  concert.  I  happened  to  look 
on  shore  one  day,  in  the  direction  from  which  it  came, 
when  I  saw  a  sentinel  swinging  one  of  these  animals 
by  the  tail.  He  was  yelping  as  if  he  were  being  killed, 
and  all  the  dogs  in  the  neighborhood  joined  in  sympa 
thetic  concert.  The  sentinel  had  not  much  to  entertain 
him,  so  he  amused  himself  from  time  to  time  with  this 
interesting  diversion.  Our  cicerone,  the  son  of  the 

346 


"SUNSET"    COX 

Commercial  Agent  to  whom  I  have  referred,  conducted 
us  around  amongst  the  different  quarters  of  Damascus 
which  were  inhabited  by  the  Christians,  Jews,  and  Turks. 
The  first  two  were  more  interesting  than  the  other, 
for  we  were  asked  into  the  houses  of  the  occupants,  and 
invited  to  sit  down  and  take  a  cup  of  coffee,  in  the 
most  friendly  way.  The  houses  had  surrounding  them 
a  sort  of  yard,  or  what  the  Spaniards  would  call  a  patio  / 
here  the  family  would  assemble,  and,  although  it  was 
surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  the  gate  was  always  open, 
and  they  would  invite  us  to  join  them  there,  and  when 
we  accepted  would  appear  extremely  gratified.  We 
made  several  efforts  to  get  into  a  Moslem  habitation,  but 
without  success.  These  people  are  prejudiced  against 
strangers,  and  they  feared  the  contamination  of  admit 
ting  them  within  their  walls. 

We  had  now  seen  all  that  there  was  to  see  in  and 
about  Damascus,  and  returned  to  the  ship  after  an  ab 
sence  of  five  or  six  days.  Soon  after  my  arrival  on 
board  I  got  under  way  and  went  to  Smyrna,  where  I 
arrived  about  the  end  of  May.  At  this  port  I  shifted 
my  flag  to  the  JKearsarge,  as  a  vessel  of  the  size  of  the 
Pensacola  was  not  permitted,  under  the  treaty  between 
the  great  Powers  and  Turkey,  to  pass  the  Dardanelles.  I 
sailed  from  Smyrna  for  Constantinople  in  the  Kearsctrge, 
and  fully  endorse  all  that  has  been  said  of  the  beauties 
of  the  approach  to  the  Golden  Horn ;  it  is  grand,  even 
sublime,  but  I  shall  make  no  effort  to  describe  it,  for  I 
do  not  feel  that  I  could  do  justice  to  that  about  which 
so  much  has  been  often  written  by  many  skilful  pens. 
Upon  my  arrival  off  the  City,  I  went,  accompanied  by  my 
staff,  to  call  on  our  minister,  Mr.  Cox,  commonly  called 
"  Sunset."  I  was  very  much  pleased  with  the  manner 
of  his  reception,  for  I  might  say  that  it  was  with  open 

347 


MEMORIES   OF   A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

arm**;  and  I  feel  sure  that  he  was  extremely  gratified 
to  have  an  American  Admiral  within  the  JirnitB  of  his 
bailiwick.  Mr*.  Cox,  the  charming  wife  of  the  Minister, 
wan  with  him,  and  assisted  him  in  doing  the  honor** 
with  ease  and  grace.  Champagne  tagan  to  flow,  and 
the  occasion  wa»,  I  am  sure,  pleasing  and  satisfactory 
to  all  concerned.  Every  one  who  knew  Mr.  Cox  is 
aware  of  what  a  kindly,  genial  gentleman  he  was,  and 
how  he  excelled  a*  a  man  of  wit  and  enprit.  I  remem 
ber  how  he  would  often  in  a  laughing  way  refer  to  his 
"damnation  "  (Dalmatian )  servant,  and  would  ring  all 
the  change*  on  a  joke,  and  get  out  of  it  all  there  was 
in  it.  My  intercourse  with  him,  during  my  stay  in  and 
about  Constantinople,  was  most  agreeable,  and  it  given 
rne  much  pleasure  to  record  it  here. 

The  day  after  rny  arrival  the  Hultan  sent  an  officer 
on  board  to  welcome  rne  to  the  Bublirne  Porte,  and  to 
tell  me  how  much  pleasure  it  gave  him  to  see  an  Ameri 
can  Admiral  there.  He  also  detailed  an  officer  of  the 
Imperial  Navy  as  rny  aide-de-camp,  to  be  in  constant  at 
tendance  upon  rne  as  long  as  I  remained  in  the  waters 
of  Constantinople.  I  found  this  aide  most  useful,  for  he 
bad  been  directed  by  the  Hultan  to  take  rne  to  the  Irri- 
p«-.n;j.l  Treasury,  a  pla/:e  of  great  inten-.'-.t,,  and  al;io  to 
show  mo  the  great  palaces  arid  other  objects  in  and 
about  the  City  which  he  thought  it  would  be  agreeable 
to  see.  At  all  of  these  places  where  it  was  worth  while 
to  take  more  than  a  passing  glimpse  we  would  rest 
awhile,  and  coffee  would  be  served  in  the  Hultan's  cups 
and  saucers,  and  we  would  smoke  his  cigarettes,  and 
thus  further  fortify  ourselves  for  sight-seeing.  I  drank 
»o  much  coffee  that  day  that  I  doubt  if  I  slept  much 
during  the  night. 

Constantinople  is  traversed  almost  entirely  by  water, 


THK    MOUCHK    AT    CONSTANTINOPLE 

for  the  streets  are  so  rough  and  so  constantly  out  of 
repair  that  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  use  car 
riages.  The  places  of  interest  are  almost  all  bordering 
the  edge  of  these  beautiful  waters,  so  in  any  case  the 
conveyance  by  water  is  more  agreeable.  The  harbor  is 
always  filled  with  boats  of  every  description,  from  the 
.Alouche  of  the  Ambassador,  down  to  the  tiniest  craft  of 
the  rank  and  tile.  The  Mouche  to  which  I  have  re 
ferred  is  a  small  steam-yacht  which  is  a  very  important 
part  of  the  equipment  of  every  Ambassador.  In  it  he 
makes  his  official  calls,  his  calls  of  etiquette,  and  his 
pleasure  excursions.  They  can  be  seen  flitting  about  at 
all  times,  just  as  one  sees  the  diplomatic  carriages  driv 
ing  around  in  any  capital  city.  1  do  not  know  whether 
our  Government  allows  one  to  our  Minister,  and  per 
haps  Mr.  Cox  was  obliged  to  pay  for  his  out  of  his 
salary ;  I  infer  from  the  shabby  appearance  of  the  Ameri 
can  Alouche  that  the  latter  was  the  case.  I  had,  while  1 
was  there,  a  small  steam-cutter  built  by  Ilerreshoff, 
which  answered  my  purposes  for  this  kind  of  work  ad 
mirably.  Steam  could  be  gotten  up  in  her  in  about 
five  minutes,  so  that,  when  I  ordered  her,  by  the  time  I 
was  prepared  to  go  she  was  at  the  gangway  ready  for 
work.  The  Turks  took  a  great  fancy  to  her,  and  the 
dockyard  people  borrowed  her  for  the  purpose  of  con 
structing  a  boat  of  the  same  pattern ;  they  had  her  a 
good  while  longer  than  I  intended  they  should,  but  they 
are  proverbial  for  not  doing  things  in  a  hurry.  Besides 
these  small  steamers  which  1  have  just  described,  the 
groat  Powers  keep  always  at  Constantinople  small  sea 
going  steamers  in  which  the  Embassies,  in  case  of  neces 
sity,  could  take  refuge,  for  in  this  ill-regulated  country 
there  is  no  telling  when  an  emergency  might  arise  which 
would  render  such  a  step  essential  to  personal  safety. 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

One  of  the  great  functions  in  Constantinople  is  what 
is  called  the  Salaamlic.  This  event  occurs  once  every 
week.  On  that  day  the  Sultan,  attended  by  the  ladies 
of  the  Harem  and  slaves,  proceeds  to  the  Mosque,  which 
he  enters,  remaining  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  at 
prayer.  Most  of  the  attendants  await  outside,  and  the 
horses  are  unhitched  from  the  carriage  which  contains 
the  Sultan's  wives,  for  fear,  I  presume,  that  they  might 
run  away  and  wreck  this  precious  cargo.  In  front  of 
the  Mosque  a  regiment  of  troops  is  drawn  up  as  a  body 
guard  to  His  Majesty,  and  the  occasion  is  one  of  great 
ceremony  and  Turkish  solemnity.  A  few  privileged  per 
sons  are  permitted  to  occupy  a  position  set  apart  for 
that  purpose,  where  they  can  see  all  that  is  going  on 
without  being  jostled  by  the  crowd.  I  happened  to  be 
amongst  the  favored  few,  and  so  saw  it  all  to  great  ad 
vantage.  The  Sultan  was  accompanied  on  the  occasion 
upon  which  I  was  there  by  Osman  Pasha,  the  hero  of 
Plevna,  who  at  that  time  was  the  close  friend  and  ad 
viser  of  His  Majesty ;  they  drove  up  together  in  an  open 
buggy,  and  this  part  of  the  function  seemed  to  me  to  be 
so  simple  and  unpretending  that  I  could  hardly  realize 
that  it  was  a  portion  of  this  glittering  pageant. 

After  the  Salaamlic,  to  which  I  have  just  referred, 
the  Sultan  received  our  Minister  and  me  at  a  private 
audience.  The  only  persons  present  were  His  Majesty 
and  his  Chief  Master  of  Ceremonies,  who  was  also  his 
interpreter,  Mr.  Cox,  Mr.  Garguilo,  our  dragoman,  and 
I.  As  we  entered  the  audience  -  chamber,  the  Sultan 
was  standing,  and  gave  me  a  most  cordial  grasp  of  the 
hand,  just  as  he  would  have  done  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  We  all  then  took  seats,  and  he  opened 
the  conversation  with  me,  through  the  Master  of  Cere 
monies,  for  even  if  he  had  had  a  knowledge  of  English, 

350 


RECEIVED    BY    ABDUL-HAMID 

the  same  thing  would  have  obtained ;  the  etiquette  is, 
that  the  Sultan  never  converses  directly  with  a  for 
eigner;  he  communicates  what  he  has  to  say  to  his  in 
terpreter,  he  in  turn  to  the  dragoman  of  the  foreigner ; 
the  dragoman  then  communicates  it  to  the  foreigner. 
The  reply  gets  back  to  the  Sultan  by  precisely  the  same 
process  reversed.  This  renders  conversation  somewhat 
slow  and  rather  tedious,  but  nevertheless  we  managed 
to  have  a  good  deal  to  say  to  each  other.  Amongst  other 
things  he  asked  me  if  I  should  see  the  President  upon 
my  return,  and  when  I  replied  in  the  affirmative  he 
asked  me  to  congratulate  him  in  his  behalf  upon  his 
recent  marriage,  and  also  upon  the  success  of  his  Ad 
ministration.  I  promised  that  I  would  do  so,  which,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  I  did  at  a  private  audience  given  to  me 
by  Mr.  Cleveland  on  my  return  to  the  United  States. 
While  we  were  in  the  Sultan's  audience  -  chamber  the 
inevitable  coffee  and  cigarettes  were  brought  in,  of 
which  we  partook  while  we  carried  on  the  conversation. 
He  had  also  brought  in  to  show  me  the  model  of  an 
ironclad  man-of-war  which  he  proposed  building,  but  I 
doubt  if  its  keel  has  ever  been  laid.  Abdul-Hamid,  the 
Sultan  about  whom  I  have  been  writing,  is  the  same 
who  has  come  so  prominently  to  the  front  during  the 
recent  troubles  in  Turkey,  with  regard  to  the  Armenian 
massacres  and  the  war  with  Greece  about  the  Island  of 
Crete.  He  impressed  me,  during  the  brief  conversation 
I  had  with  him,  as  a  kindly  man,  whose  face  was  ex 
pressive  of  good-nature  and  amiability,  withal  of  a  se 
rious  character,  and  sensible  of  the  high  responsibilities 
which  his  position  imposed  upon  him.  I  have  always 
thought  that  Mr.  Gladstone's  strictures  on  him  were 
not  altogether  fair,  for  I  have  no  doubt  that  so  far  as 
in  him  lay  he  did  all  that  he  could  to  suppress  the  ir- 

351 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

regularities  in  his  Empire.  Between  the  fear  of  assas 
sination  and  the  desire  to  benefit  his  subjects,  he  has 
for  a  long  time  been  between  the  hither  and  the  nether 
millstone.  I  doubt  if  he  is  a  man  of  the  sturdy  courage 
of  his  predecessors,  for  during  the  rebellion  of  Arabi 
Pasha  in  Egypt  he  sent  for  Lew.  "Wallace,  our  Minister 
at  that  time,  with  whom  he  was  on  very  intimate  terms, 
and  asked  his  advice  as  to  what  he  should  do.  Wallace 
said  to  him :  "  My  advice  to  your  Majesty  is  to  put 
yourself  at  the  head  of  ten  thousand  men,  go  to  Egypt 
in  person,  and  the  rebellion  will  be  crushed  out  at  once." 
He  immediately  had  a  sort  of  paroxysm,  and  called  upon 
his  attendants  to  have  the  Minister  taken  out  of  the 
room,  but,  instantly  recovering  himself,  he  saw  the  error 
he  had  committed  and  became  reasonable.  The  race 
of  great  Sultans  has  long  since  disappeared,  and  will 
probably  never  be  seen  again.  Their  headquarters  were 
in  the  field,  and  the  life  they  led  was  calculated  to  pro 
duce  rugged  warriors,  while  the  mode  of  life  of  the 
Sultans  at  present  can  only  produce  effeminate  men. 

During  the  first  part  of  my  stay  at  Constantinople  I 
kept  the  ship  at  anchor  off  Topane,  where  the  Ambassa 
dors'  gunboats  are  moored.  It  seems  the  most  con 
venient  point  from  which  to  reach  the  heart  of  the  City. 
Later  on,  I  took  her  up  the  Bosphorus  and  anchored  at 
a  place  called  Buyukdere,  near  the  entrance  of  the 
Black  Sea.  At  this  point  I  was  near  Therapia,  which  is 
beautifully  situated  on  the  Bosphorus,  and  the  resort  of 
all  the  Diplomatic  Corps  during  the  summer  months. 
The  Bosphorus  is  more  like  a  canal  than  an  arm  of  the 
sea.  Its  shores  on  both  sides  are  lined  with  palaces,  the 
occupants  of  which  step  out  of  their  front  doors  into 
their  boats,  which  stop  the  way  just  as  a  carriage  does 
in  the  street.  There  is  no  room  for  a  vehicle  of  any 

352 


ENTERTAINED    AT    PRINKAPO 

description,  the  distance  between  the  door  and  the  water 
being  only  a  few  feet.  Indeed,  the  Bosphorus  resembles 
the  Grand  Canal  at  Yenice  more  than  anything  else  to 
which  I  can  compare  it,  and,  if  the  gondolas  were  there, 
one  could  easily  imagine  himself  in  that  unique  city. 
The  houses  at  which  I  visited  most  frequently  while  at 
Therapia  were  those  of  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  the  British 
Ambassador,  and  our  Consul  -  General,  Mr.  Heap.  Our 
Minister,  Mr.  Cox,  was  passing  this  summer  at  Prinkapo 
instead  of  at  Therapia,  as  was  his  usual  custom.  The 
Thorntons  were  very  polite  to  us,  and  gave  us  dinners 
and  entertainments  of  all  sorts.  Lieutenant  Potts,  my 
Secretary,  was  a  guest  at  their  house  for  several  days. 
The  hospitable  home  of  our  Consul-General  was  always 
open  to  us,  and  evening  after  evening  we  assembled 
there  for  a  rubber  of  whist.  I  would  occasionally  take 
my  steam-cutter  and  run  up  into  the  Black  Sea,  but  the 
contrast  between  its  murky  waters  and  the  sunny  Bos 
phorus  was  so  great  that  I  was  always  glad  to  get  back 
again. 

Thus  passed  a  week  or  ten  days  in  this  lovely  spot 
most  agreeably,  but  it  was  time  for  me  to  be  again  on 
the  move.  I  bade  farewell  to  these  pleasant  shores,  and 
in  a  few  hours  the  Kearsarge  was  at  anchor  off  the  Island 
of  Prinkapo,  one  of  the  Princess  Islands,  which  form  a 
group  in  the  Sea  of  Marmora.  Within  a  few  hundred 
yards  of  the  place  where  the  ship  was  anchored  stood 
the  palace  of  an  Armenian,  Mr.  Azarian,  who  was  a 
naturalized  American  citizen.  He  had  married  an 
American  woman,  who  was  very  proud  of  her  country, 
and  she  urged  me  to  make  her  house  my  home  during 
my  stay  in  those  waters.  She  told  me,  moreover,  that 
I  must  have  with  me  a  member  of  my  staff  and  my  ser 
vant  ;  in  fact,  she  said, "  You  must  here  make  your  keif" 
z  353 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

which  is  an  Eastern  word  to  express  positive  and  entire 
comfort.  I  passed  a  charming  week  with  this  interest 
ing  family.  Mrs.  and  Miss  Azarian  were  very  intimate 
with  most  of  the  diplomatic  people  in  Constantinople, 
and  often  on  Saturdays  the  Thorntons  and  other  young 
ladies  from  the  different  Embassies  would  come  down  to 
Prinkapo  as  their  guests.  The  Secretaries  and  Attaches 
would  also  be  on  hand,  so  the  times  were  very  lively 
until  Monday  morning,  when  the  men  would  return  to 
the  City.  The  house  was  very  bright  during  their  stay  ; 
there  were  games  of  all  kinds,  and  music  and  flirting, 
which  would  continue  into  the  small  hours  of  the  morn 
ing.  We  sat  down  to  dinner  at  nine  o'clock,  and  gener 
ally  arose  about  midnight,  when  the  evening  would  just 
begin.  I  would  generally  take  advantage  of  some  mo 
ment  of  confusion  to  steal  off  to  bed.  My  room  was  so 
far  removed  from  the  sound  of  revelry  which  would 
naturally  follow  a  dinner  of  three  hours'  duration  as 
not  to  cause  me  any  inconvenience  or  interfere  at  all 
with  my  slumbers.  The  Orientals  have  a  custom  of 
placing  near  the  head  of  the  bed  of  every  guest  a  jar 
of  sweet  substance,  somewhat  resembling  marmalade, 
which  they  call  "  Turkish  delight."  I  would  console 
myself  with  a  little  of  this,  and  forget  the  joys  that  I 
was  missing  below.  The  Kearsarge  was  lying  so  close  to 
the  Azarian  palace  that  the  band  could  be  as  distinctly 
heard  as  if  it  was  in  the  house  on  shore.  This  proximity 
of  the  ship  to  the  shore  was  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to 
all  parties,  for  there  was  a  constant  change  of  civilities  of 
one  kind  or  another  going  on  from  morning  to  night. 
Our  Minister,  Mr.  Cox,  and  his  wife  were  passing  the 
summer  quietly  at  Prinkapo  at  this  time,  and  I  had  the 
advantage  of  seeing  a  great  deal  of  them  during  my 
visit  to  the  Azarians.  I  remember  with  much  pleasure 

354 


HELPING    AN    IMPRESARIO 

a  breakfast  I  had  with  them  the  day  before  I  left  the 
island. 

The  servant  who  accompanied  me  to  the  house  of 
Mrs.  Azarian  was  a  handsome  mulatto  named  David. 
He  was  always  a  great  favorite  at  the  hotels  where  he 
happened  to  be  with  me.  He  would  sit  at  the  table  of 
the  host  with  the  couriers  and  people  of  that  class,  and 
knew  how  to  make  himself  agreeable.  At  the  Azarians' 
there  was  a  rather  pretty  English  nursery  governess ; 
she  and  David  happened  to  be  thrown  a  great  deal  to 
gether.  One  day  David  wrote  a  note  to  her  contain 
ing  a  proposal  of  marriage.  We  all  considered  it  a  good 
joke,  but  one  of  the  young  ladies  of  the  family  said  that 
the  governess  had  confided  to  her  that  if  David  had 
been  a  young  man  of  better  family  she  might  have  con 
sidered  his  proposition.  As  it  was,  however,  she  rejected 
him,  and  I  do  not  think  he  ever  quite  got  over  it,  for  he 
was  never  the  same  afterwards.  I  was  obliged  soon  to 
send  him  home,  for  I  could  never  get  any  good  out  of 
him  after  the  love  affair. 

There  was  an  American  prima  donna  at  Constanti 
nople  at  this  time  known  as  Mrs.  Byron,  who  had 
taken  a  troupe  of  singers  there  for  the  Grand  Opera, 
and  was  her  own  impresario.  The  result  was  a  dismal 
failure.  We  all  felt  sorry  for  her,  and  were  anxious 
to  assist  her  in  her  difficulties.  I  first  met  her  at  the 
Salaamlic,  and  she  afterwards  came  on  board  ship  to 
see  me.  She  happened  to  learn  that  the  Sultan  was 
going  to  give  me  a  dinner,  and  the  object  of  this  visit 
was  in  connection  with  that  event;  she  was  accompa 
nied  on  this  occasion  by  our  Secretary  of  Legation,  who 
desired  to  befriend  her.  She  had  sung,  I  think,  at  one 
of  the  Sultan's  dinners,  and  I  believe  had  received  after 
her  performance  a  hundred-pound  note.  She  thought  if 

355 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

she  could  be  engaged  for  the  dinner  that  was  to  be 
given  to  me,  the  same  good-fortune  would  attend  her. 
It  was  agreed  that  our  dragoman  should  see  the  Chief 
Master  of  Ceremonies,  who  would  naturally  ask  him 
how  the  American  Admiral  could  best  be  entertained, 
which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  did.  Our  dragoman,  Mr. 
Garguilo,  who  was  a  bright  Italian,  replied  at  once 
that  he  thought  the  Admiral  would  like  to  hear  some 
American  songs.  The  Master  of  Ceremonies  said,  at 
once,  "How  is  it  possible  for  us  to  find  some  one  in 
Turkey  to  sing  American  songs?"  whereupon  Garguilo 
suggested  to  him  that  Mrs.  Byron,  the  American  prima 
donna,  would  be  the  very  person  he  wanted  for  that  pur 
pose.  The  Oriental  mind  at  once  seized  upon  this  idea, 
thought  it  a  good  one,  and  thought  also  that  it  might 
be  arranged.  Nothing,  however,  came  of  it,  for  the  Sul 
tan  does  not  always  appear  at  the  dinners  which  he 
gives  to  strangers— I  believe  he  seldom  does — therefore 
such  a  plan  as  we  had  been  trying  to  manage  could  not 
be  carried  out.  As  he  did  not  appear  at  the  dinner 
given  to  me,  poor  Mrs.  Byron  did  not  get  her  five  hun 
dred  dollars,  and  our  little  scheme  to  put  some  money 
into  her  pocket  fell  to  the  ground.  She  bettered  her 
condition,  later  on,  by  marrying  Colonel  Mapleson,  who 
arranged  engagements  for  her  and  brought  her  to 
Washington,  where  she  was  entertained  at  the  White 
House  during  the  administration  of  President  Harri 
son. 

It  will  perhaps  be  remembered  by  many  that  the  Sul 
tan  presented  General  Grant,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit 
to  Constantinople,  with  a  pair  of  gray  Arabian  horses. 
The  General  did  not  care  to  accept  so  valuable  a  present, 
but  finally  consented  to  take  one  horse.  His  friends,  how 
ever,  urged  him  to  accept  another,  which  he  finally  agreed 

356 


EFFECTS    OF    VISIT    TO   CONSTANTINOPLE 

to  do.  When  the  second  horse  was  sent  it  turned  out 
to  be  a  black  one.  Our  dragoman,  however,  who  was 
always  ready  for  any  emergency,  went  immediately  to 
headquarters,  and  informed  them  there  that  the  Presi 
dents  of  the  United  States  rode  on  white  horses,  having 
in  mind  perhaps  "  Old  Whitey  "  and  President  Taylor. 
Now,  if  there  is  anything  which  the  Oriental  mind  holds 
dear,  it  is  precedent  and  custom,  so  the  black  horse  was 
withdrawn  and  the  gray  one  substituted.  I  cannot 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  story,  but  it  was  told  me  by 
those  who  were  present  at  the  time  and  were  parties 
to  the  transaction. 

In  reference  to  the  dinner  given  to  me  by  the  Sultan, 
to  which  I  have  referred  above,  I  think  I  cannot  do 
better  than  to  insert  here  an  extract  from  my  letter  to 
the  Department  about  that  time,  as  follows :  "  I  have 
been  assured  by  the  Minister  that  my  stay  in  the  waters 
of  Constantinople  has  been  productive  of  great  satis 
faction,  not  only  to  the  Legation,  but  to  the  various 
religious  and  educational  establishments  which  exist 
there  and  in  that  vicinity,  and  which  are  almost  en 
tirely  American  in  their  character.  I  took  occasion  to 
visit  with  my  staff  the  American  (Robert)  College  and 
the  American  Female  Seminary,  at  the  time  of  their 
respective  Commencements.  I  was  much  gratified  to 
find  that  they  felt  that  their  positions  were  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  presence  of  an  American  man-of- 
war,  and  the  sight  of  the  Flag  in  their  midst  seemed  to 
encourage  them  to  renewed  efforts  in  the  good  work  in 
which  they  are  engaged.  I  also  visited  an  American  es 
tablishment  in  Stamboul,  called  the £  Bible  House,'  which 
is  under  the  management  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bliss,  a  Pres 
byterian  Clergyman.  At  this  place  is  published  the 
Bible  in  many  languages,  as  are  also  other  books  of  a 

357 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

kindred  nature.  Dr.  Bliss  called  on  board  the  Kear- 
sarge,  and  especially  requested  that  I  should  visit  him 
there,  which  I  did  with  very  great  interest,  and  I  think 
with  much  gratification  to  himself  and  all  his  employes. 
I  was  very  much  surprised  and  pleased  to  find  in  the 
midst  of  a  people  almost  entirely  Mohammedan  this 
Christian  Institution,  conducted  and  managed  as  it 
might  have  been  had  it  existed  in  an  American  city, 
instead  of  in  Stamboul,  and  I  am  satisfied  that  it  is 
doing  a  great  deal  of  good  amongst  the  Christians  of 
the  Turkish  Empire.  My  relations  with  Mr.  Cox,  our 
Minister,  have  been  of  the  most  agreeable  and  cordial 
nature,  and  we  have  always  been  in  accord  in  every 
thing  that  has  been  done  during  my  presence  in  these 
waters,  in  my  efforts  to  uphold  the  American  name, 
which  I  am  happy  to  say  is  highly  esteemed  throughout 
the  whole  East.  On  the  7th  instant  the  Sultan  enter 
tained  us  at  dinner,  and  was  represented  by  the  Minister 
of  Marine.  In  the  adjoining  room  were  also  entertained 
fifty  of  the  Rear  Barge's  crew,  and  he  further  extend 
ed  his  civilities  by  sending  on  board,  to  those  who  were 
not  at  the  dinner,  an  entertainment  of  the  same  char 
acter.  Mr.  Cox  accompanied  us  to  the  dinner  at  the 
Palace,  and  made  some  very  happy  and  appropriate  re 
marks  on  the  occasion.  On  the  following  day  the  Sultan 
sent  his  son,  the  Prince  Imperial,  on  board,  as  his  repre 
sentative,  to  visit  the  Kearsarge  /  the  appropriate  honors 
were  extended  to  him,  and  he  made  a  speech  to  the 
officers  and  crew  expressive  of  the  Sultan's  gratification 
at  the  presence  of  the  ship  at  the  Sublime  Porte,  and  of 
his  desire  to  make  our  stay  there  as  agreeable  as  pos 
sible,  to  which  I  made  a  suitable  reply.  On  the  9th 
instant  the  Sultan  received  the  Minister  and  myself  in  a 
private  audience,  at  which  he  was  most  cordial  in  his 

358 


THE    SULTAN    COMPLIMENTS    CLEVELAND 

manner,  and  where  he  expressed  himself  in  terms  of  the 
greatest  friendship  towards  the  President  of  the  United 
States." 

In  addition  to  the  despatch  from  which  I  have  just 
quoted,  I  sent  a  special  one  to  the  Department  in  refer 
ence  to  the  conversation  I  had  with  the  Sultan  about 
the  President.  It  was  as  follows  : 

"PiRjsus,  GREECE,  July  13th,  1886. 
"Hon.  W.  C.  WHITNEY,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

"Sir, — I  have  the  honor  to  inform  the  Department  that  at  an  au 
dience  with  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  of  the  9th  inst.  he  was  so  marked 
in  his  desire  that  I  should  convey  to  the  President  of  the  United  States 
the  expression  of  the  high  regard  and  esteem  in  which  he  held  him, 
as  well  as  his  most  cordial  congratulations  upon  his  recent  marriage, 
that  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  make  a  special  despatch  upon  this  subject. 
Had  he  made  this  request  casually,  I  should  have  merely  regarded 
it  as  one  of  the  compliments  usually  paid  on  such  occasions  ;  but  after 
conversing  with  him  awhile  upon  other  subjects  he  returned  to  it 
again,  and  in  an  earnest  and  especial  manner  requested  that  I  should 
not  forget  to  convey  his  messages  to  the  President ;  I  therefore  place 
this  despatch  in  the  hands  of  the  Department,  in  order  that  if  it  sees  fit 
it  may  make  known  its  contents  to  the  President,  and  feel  that  I  have 
thus  fulfilled  the  obligations  which  the  Sultan  imposed  upon  me. 
"  Very  respectfully, 

"(Signed)  S.  R.  FRANKLIN, 

"  Rear- Admiral  U.  S.  Navy, 
"  Commanding  U.  S.  Naval  Force  on  European  Station." 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

Athens  and  the  Greek  Islands — Sea-Bathing  at  Leghorn— Americans 
in  Italy — Society  in  Genoa — Eastward  Again — Winter  in  Alexan 
dria — Marvels  of  Our  Consular  System — An  Agreeable  Visit — Mrs. 
Franklin  at  Athens— Royal  Hospitalities — Visit  of  the  King  and 
Queen — Domestic  Dinner  at  the  Palace. 

I  HAD  now  been  several  weeks  in  the  waters  of  the 
Turkish  Empire,  and  had,  I  thought,  accomplished  the 
object  of  my  visit  to  that  part  of  my  Station.  I  got 
under  way  from  Prinkapo,  and  rejoined  the  Pensacola 
at  the  Island  of  Syra.  I  then  went  to  Pirasus  and  Pha- 
lerum  Bay.  From  the  latter  place  I  was,  together  with 
my  staff  and  Commander  Sigsbee,  of  the  Kearsarge, 
presented  to  King  George  of  Greece  by  our  Minister  at 
Athens,  Mr.  Fearn.  Commander  Sigsbee  is  the  gallant 
officer  who  commanded  the  Maine,  and  behaved  so 
handsomely  when  his  ship  was  wrecked  by  an  explosion 
in  the  harbor  of  Havana.  The  King,  on  the  follow 
ing  day,  visited  the  Pensacola  and  Kearsarge,  when  we 
manned  the  yards  and  gave  him  a  Koyal  salute.  Mr. 
Fearn,  our  Minister,  was  an  agreeable  man,  and  had  a 
most  interesting  family ;  they  did  great  credit  to  the 
United  States  in  representing  us  as  they  did  there,  and 
were  great  favorites  with  the  best  people,  as  well  as 
with  the  Royal  family.  A  few  years  ago  he  was  ap 
pointed  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  International  Court 
in  Cairo.  When  last  I  heard  of  him  I  am  sorry  to  say 
he  was  very  ill. 


BATHING    AT    LEGHORN 

I  sailed  from  Phalerum  Bay,  which  is  near  Athens, 
on  the  20th  of  July,  and  arrived  at  the  Island  of  Zante 
the  next  day.  A  friend  of  mine,  Mr.  Phocian  Barf,  a 
resident  of  Naples,  had  large  interests  at  this  island, 
and  was  the  proprietor  of  a  very  pretty  estate  there. 
He  had  requested  me  if  I  went  to  Zante  to  visit  his 
place,  telling  me,  at  the  same  time,  that  probably  he 
would  not  be  there  himself,  but  would  like  me  to  see 
it.  I  accordingly  paid  it  a  visit,  but  found  no  one  but 
the  steward.  When  he  discovered  who  I  was,  he  placed 
in  my  hands  a  package  which  he  said  he  had  orders  to 
give  to  me  in  case  I  should  come  to  Zante.  When  I 
opened  it  I  found,  to  my  surprise,  that  it  contained  sev 
eral  dozen  doilies,  made  in  varieties  of  patterns,  and  of 
the  most  delicate  fibre.  It  was  a  beautiful  present,  and, 
as  the  proprietor  was  not  there,  there  was  nothing  for 
me  to  do  but  accept  it,  which  I  did. 

I  had  now  completed  my  cruising  in  the  East,  and 
sailed  from  Zante  for  the  coast  of  Italy,  arriving  at 
Leghorn  in  the  latter  part  of  July.  It  was  the  height 
of  the  bathing  season,  and  the  place  was  filled  with 
strangers  from  Kome  and  Florence  and  all  the  surround 
ing  country.  My  wife,  who  had  been  in  Switzerland 
during  my  cruise  to  the  East,  joined  me  here,  and  we 
took  up  our  quarters  at  the  Grand  Hotel.  The  sea-bath 
ing  of  Leghorn  is,  to  my  mind,  the  finest  in  the  world ; 
the  water  is  beautifully  clear,  and  the  temperature  most 
agreeable.  The  bathing-houses,  or  baraccas,  as  they  are 
called,  are  so  constructed  as  to  project  over  the  sea,  as 
there  is  no  beach  like  that  to  which  we  are  accustomed 
in  this  country.  The  bathers  enter  the  baracca  from 
the  shore  side,  and,  when  ready  for  the  bath,  descend 
a  ladder  into  the  water,  which  is  about  four  feet  deep ; 
then,  by  raising  a  sort  of  canvas  flap,  which  is  on  the 

361 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

outside,  they  emerge  into  the  ocean  and  find  any  depth 
they  may  desire.  This  system  does  away  with  the 
awkwardness  of  walking  down  a  long  beach  to  the  wa 
ter,  which  is  embarrassing  to  so  many.  There  one  sud 
denly  appears  to  the  spectators  with  only  his  head  above 
water,  and  so  can  remain,  if  he  desires,  through  the 
whole  of  his  bath.  Stockings  are  never  worn  by  the 
ladies,  for  it  is  entirely  unnecessary,  since  their  feet  are 
never  seen.  I  remember  on  one  occasion  an  American 
woman  appeared  upon  the  scene  encased  in  black  stock 
ings;  she  produced  a  sensation  like  unto  that  which 
would  take  place  with  us  if  the  situation  were  reversed. 
I  took  almost  daily  swims  at  these  beautiful  baths, 
which  were  rendered  very  attractive,  not  only  by  their 
convenience,  but  also  on  account  of  their  pretty  sur 
roundings.  Within  a  stone's -throw  of  them  was  the 
Grand  Hotel,  one  of  the  finest  in  Europe,  and  closer 
still  were  a  number  of  excellent  restaurants,  where  one 
could  dine  or  breakfast  in  great  comfort  after  the  bath. 
The  officers  of  the  ship  and  those  of  their  wives  who 
were  present  were  constant  patrons  of  these  baths. 
There  was  nothing  in  Leghorn  that  gave  us  more  pleas 
ure  or  rendered  our  stay  there  more  agreeable  than  this 
daily  diversion.  I  call  to  mind  a  little  incident  which 
occurred  one  day  while  I  was  swimming  along  that 
amused  me  at  the  time,  and  still  amuses  me  when  I 
think  of  it.  Ensign  Eames,  the  brother  of  the  celebrated 
Emma  Eames,  was  swimming  in  the  opposite  direction, 
and  when  he  came  abreast  of  me  he  brought  himself 
to  an  upright  position,  and,  treading  water  for  an  in 
stant,  gave  me  a  full  military  salute  and  passed  on. 
Eames  was  always  ready  for  a  joke,  even  to  not  ignor 
ing  the  Commander-in-Chief,  under  any  circumstances 
whatsoever. 


ATTRACTIONS    OF    GENOA 

There  were  several  American  Countesses  at  Leghorn  at 
this  time,  amongst  others  the  Countess  Gianotti,  whose 
husband  held  a  high  position  in  the  household  of  the 
King  of  Italy.  She  was,  before  she  married,  a  Miss 
Kinney.  Another  was  the  Countess  Gherardesca,  for 
merly  a  Miss  Fisher,  of  New  York.  Both  of  them  were 
excellent  specimens  of  American  women,  and  were  both 
very  much  respected  in  Rome  and  Florence,  where  they 
respectively  resided.  My  friend  Mr.  Fabricatti,  whom 
I  have  mentioned  before  in  the  course  of  this  narrative, 
gave  me  a  dinner-party.  Amongst  the  guests  was  Count 
Gianotti.  Although,  as  I  have  stated  above,  he  held  a 
high  position  at  Court,  he  seemed  to  go  upon  his  sum 
mer  travels  without  a  dress-coat;  thus  the  host  was 
obliged  to  ask  us  to  appear  in  frock-coats,  in  order  to 
conform  to  this  peculiarity  of  the  Count.  One  of  the 
most  agreeable  families  residing  at  Leghorn  at  this  time 
was  that  of  Mr.  Torrey,  who  was  formerly  our  Consul 
at  Carrara ;  he  lives  here  in  great  ease  and  comfort.  At 
his  table  would  be  found  green -corn  and  buckwheat- 
cakes,  the  products  of  his  own  country-place,  and  given 
to  his  American  guests  to  remind  them  of  their  own  na 
tive  land.  His  daughter  married  an  American  Naval 
Officer  named  Berwin  ;  they  reside  in  New  York,  and  I 
think  are  very  prosperous.  I  believe  he  is  still  on  the 
retired  list  of  the  Navy. 

I  left  Leghorn  late  in  September,  and  went  with  the 
Pensacola  to  Genoa;  went  on  shore  and  took  up  my 
quarters  at  the  Hotel  du  Pare.  It  was  surrounded  with 
beautiful  gardens  enclosed  by  high  walls,  which  gave  it, 
shut  in  as  it  was,  the  appearance  of  a  beautiful  chateau  ; 
indeed,  it  was  formerly  the  residence  of  an  Italian  noble 
man.  We  lived  there  very  comfortably  for  several 
weeks.  Amongst  the  distinguished  guests  tha,t  were 

363 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

there  at  the  time  we  were  was  the  Comte  de  Paris.  He 
seemed  to  be  on  easy  terms  with  the  landlady,  consid 
ering  the  difference  in  their  stations  in  life.  We  could 
hear  them  chattering  away  from  where  we  would  sit 
in  the  garden.  I  think  he  found  her  a  good-natured 
person,  and  amused  himself  by  gossiping  with  her.  The 
Prince  also  knew  very  well  Madame  Garcia,  a  woman 
of  Buenos  Ayres ;  her  husband  had  been  the  Argentine 
Minister  to  the  United  States  some  years  before;  she 
was  at  our  hotel,  and  seemed  to  be  an  old  acquaintance 
of  the  Count's.  Madame  Garcia  was  a  cousin  of  Manu- 
elita,  the  daughter  of  the  famous  Dictator  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  Rosas,  who  held  all  that  country  in  a  state  of 
terror  fifty  years  ago.  Manuelita  was  a  great  friend 
of  American  ISTaval  Officers  in  those  days,  and  there  are 
some  now  living  who  no  doubt  remember  her  with  pleas 
ure,  for  she  was  a  great  favorite,  although  the  daughter 
of  a  bloodthirsty  tyrant.  Our  Consul  at  Genoa  at  this 
time  was  a  Mr.  Fletcher,  an  excellent  officer,  who  I 
believe  still  occupies  that  position.  He  was  a  great 
friend  of  Miss  Folsom's,  who  afterwards  became  the  wife 
of  President  Cleveland;  she  and  her  mother  spent  a 
long  time  in  Genoa,  and  Mr.  Fletcher  was  very  kind 
and  attentive  to  them  while  they  were  there.  Mrs. 
Folsom  was  quite  an  invalid  at  the  time,  which  I  think 
caused  them  to  make  the  protracted  stay  at  Genoa.  On 
one  occasion  during  the  cruise  they  both  made  a  visit 
to  the  Pensacola,  but  I  was  not  on  board  at  the  time. 
Mrs.  Cleveland  talked  to  me  afterwards  about  the  visit, 
after  she  had  become  the  wife  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  As  a  great  secret  my  wife  and  I  were 
taken  to  see  a  marble  bust  of  Miss  Folsom  which  was 
being  made  by  a  sculptor  in  Genoa ;  it  was  the  inten 
tion  of  Mrs.  Cleveland  to  surprise  her  husband  by  pre- 
364 


DRIVEN    FROM    GENOA    BY    CHOLERA 

senting  it  to  him  on  the  first  Christmas  after  their  mar 
riage,  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  she  did. 

About  this  time  the  cholera  made  its  appearance  in 
Genoa.  The  Consul  came  on  board  and  informed  me 
that  it  was  spreading  rapidly,  so  there  was  nothing  to 
do  but  leave  at  once.  The  Surgeon  went  on  shore  and 
obtained  a  clean  bill  of  health,  when  I  got  under  way 
immediately  and  sailed  for  Villefranche.  There  we 
were  subjected  to  a  quarantine  of  twenty-four  hours, 
and  as  there  were  no  evidences  of  the  disease  on  board 
we  were  permitted  to  land  at  the  expiration  of  that 
time.  I  had  received  an  order  from  the  Navy  Depart 
ment,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Department  of  State,  to 
send  one  of  the  ships  of  the  Squadron  to  the  coast  of 
Africa.  I  directed  the  Quinebaug  to  hold  herself  in 
readiness  for  this  service,  and  despatched  her,  as  soon  as 
she  was  prepared  for  her  cruise,  to  that  part  of  the  Sta 
tion.  As  it  was  important  that  our  flag  should  be  con 
stantly  shown  in  the  East,  I  sailed  myself  for  Alexandria 
soon  afterwards,  touching  at  Palermo  and  Malta  en 
route.  I  passed  but  a  few  days  at  each  of  these  places, 
having  found  nothing  of  importance  at  either  of  them 
to  detain  me  longer.  Our  Consul  at  the  former  port 
was  Dr.  Lee,  who  had  been  an  official  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  State,  and  was  well  adapted  to  the  position 
which  he  occupied.  Palermo  is  a  pretty  Sicilian  city, 
built  with  the  regularity  of  an  American  town,  the  two 
principal  streets  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles,  hav 
ing  a  small  square  at  their  intersection,  resembling  very 
much  in  that  respect  our  Pennsylvania  cities.  On  a 
former  occasion  when  I  visited  this  port,  in  consequence 
of  the  brigandage  then  existing,  it  was  not  safe  to  wan 
der  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  city,  but  now  it  was 
all  changed.  Palermo  is  not  an  interesting  city  to  the 

365 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

ordinary  tourist,  but  to  the  archaeologist  the  Island  of 
Sicily  is  full  of  objects  of  the  deepest  interest. 

At  Malta  I  found  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh  with  the 
British  Fleet.  I  had  met  him  there  on  a  former  visit 
to  this  island,  as  I  have  stated  in  another  part  of  this 
narrative.  We  exchanged  civilities,  and  I  received  every 
attention  from  him  and  the  British  authorities  of  the 
port,  as  I  always  did  at  their  Military  Posts.  I  re 
mained  here  but  a  few  days,  when  I  made  the  best  of 
my  way  to  Alexandria,  where  I  arrived  on  the  llth  of 
December.  I  passed  nearly  the  whole  of  the  winter  at 
this  place,  staying  most  of  the  time  on  board  ship,  where 
I  was  very  comfortable — far  more  so  than  I  could  have 
been  on  shore.  The  members  of  my  staff  messed  with 
me,  and  as  I  had  a  good  steward  and  an  excellent 
French  chef,  we  lived  delightfully ;  and  so  in  this  de 
licious  winter  climate  the  three  months  that  we  were 
there  passed  pleasantly  away.  Lieutenant  Staunton  and 
Potts,  of  my  staff,  and  Lieutenant  Alger,  when  he  could 
be  spared  from  duty,  would  go  to  the  Club  nearly  every 
day  after  luncheon  and  have  a  rubber  of  whist.  This 
recreation  we  kept  up  pretty  much  all  the  time  we 
were  there;  indeed,  without  it  I  think  our  existence 
would  have  been  dull  and  monotonous  enough,  but  with 
this  amusement  the  afternoons  went  like  a  flash.  I 
would  return  on  board  ship  towards  dinner  -  time,  and 
after  dining  would  devote  myself  to  reading  and  exer 
cise  ;  I  would  generally  walk  the  bridge  for  two  hours, 
and  feel  that  I  had  then  accomplished  all  the  constitu 
tional  that  I  required.  I  made  it  a  rule  not  to  dine  out 
while  I  was  here,  for  the  trouble  and  exposure  to  which 
it  would  have  subjected  me  deterred  me  from  it.  My 
cabin  was  so  comfortable,  and  even  luxurious,  that  I 
was  entirely  contented  on  board.  I  was  often  urged  to 

366 


WHAT    ALEXANDRIA    LACKS 

break  through  my  resolution,  but  I  was  inexorable. 
The  Club  people  of  Alexandria  were  extremely  polite 
to  us ;  several  Clubs  were  placed  at  our  disposition  dur 
ing  the  whole  of  our  stay ;  they  would  not  entertain  any 
proposal  to  pay  for  their  use  as  ordinary  subscribers 
did.  These  Clubs  were  delightful  places  of  resort ;  they 
were  furnished  in  the  very  best  style,  and  I  have  seen 
none  more  comfortable  in  any  part  of  the  world.  Of 
course,  they  are  kept  up  entirely  by  foreigners,  general 
ly  men  of  wealth.  In  going  to  and  returning  from  the 
Club  we  would  almost  always  drive.  The  horses,  al 
though  rather  scrubby -looking,  were  all  more  or  less 
thoroughbred.  The  street  which  we  traversed  was  gen 
erally  filled  with  people,  but  the  drivers  did  not  seem  to 
heed  that,  and  would  dash  along  at  a  fearful  rate,  so  that 
I  was  in  constant  dread  lest  some  one  should  be  killed. 

What  struck  me  as  most  peculiar  was  that  here  in  a 
seaport  of  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  people 
there  was  no  American  Consul.  Americans  were  con 
stantly  passing  through  on  their  way  to  the  Pyramids 
and  the  Nile,  and  yet  the  only  person  who  could  at  all 
serve  their  interests  was  a  sort  of  Commercial  Agent, 
who,  at  the  time  I  was  there,  was  either  a  Missionary 
or  a  School-teacher,  or  perhaps  both.  I  remember  how 
difficult  it  was  to  find  him.  I  have  spoken  of  this 
want  at  home,  but  I  doubt  if  any  measures  have  been 
taken  to  remedy  it.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  the 
workings  of  our  Consular  system,  but  we  are  all  the 
time  hoping  for  better  things  in  this  branch  of  the 
public  service. 

The  incident  which  I  remember  most  distinctly  while 
at  Alexandria  was  a  sand-storm.  These  do  not  often 
occur,  but  when  they  do  they  are  about  as  unpleasant 
as  any  storm  could  be.  The  wind  blows  a  gale  as  it 

36? 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

drives  across  the  great  Desert  of  Sahara,  bringing  with 
it  not  only  clouds  of  sand,  but,  one  might  say,  thick  mists 
of  it,  filling  the  air,  and  penetrating  everything,  even 
to  the  ears  and  eyes.  In  passing  over  the  ship  it  would 
find  its  way  into  every  crevice  and  crack  and  key -hole. 
Nothing  could  escape  it,  the  hair  and  tooth  brushes  were 
filled  with  it,  and  after  the  storm  subsided  there  had  to 
be  a  general  cleaning-up  of  everything.  "While  this 
storm  was  upon  us,  although  then  not  as  severe  as  it  af 
terwards  became,  there  appeared  upon  the  scene,  as  if 
she  had  come  on  the  wings  of  the  wind  itself,  a  charm 
ing  young  woman  whom  I  had  known  from  her  child 
hood — Mrs.  Mason,  the  wife  of  Lieutenant  Mason,  who 
was  then  in  China.  She  was  on  her  way,  alone,  to  join 
him  there.  She  was  a  brave  woman,  but  she  was  so 
womanly  and  attractive  that  the  passengers  took  the 
greatest  interest  in  her,  and  were  constantly  minister 
ing  to  her  wants.  She  had  come  in  one  of  the  P.  &  O. 
steamers  to  Alexandria,  whence  she  would  take  the 
train  to  a  point  on  the  Eed  Sea  where  she  would  re- 
embark  for  the  far  East.  She  happened  upon  us  just 
at  breakfast-time,  and  I  know  it  gave  her  pleasure  to 
be  there,  as  it  did  us  to  have  her.  I  feel  sure  that  we 
all  enjoyed  our  meal  the  more  for  having  her  with  us, 
and  that  she  felt  happy  at  being  once  more  under  the 
folds  of  the  American  Flag.  The  wind  had  increased 
considerably  while  we  were  at  breakfast,  and  I  felt 
some  concern  about  sending  her  ashore ;  but  it  was  neces 
sary  for  her  to  go  and  catch  the  train  or  miss  her  pas 
sage  in  the  steamer,  and  she  was  the  daughter  of  an 
Admiral  and  a  sailor's  wife,  and  seemed  to  have  no 
hesitation  about  making  the  effort.  I  placed  her  in  the 
steam-cutter  and  gave  her  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Potts, 
of  my  staff,  with  the  injunction  that  he  had  the  care  of 

368 


MEET    MRS.   FRANKLIN    AT    PIRAEUS 

a  precious  cargo,  and  that  he  must  see  to  it  that  it  was 
safely  landed.  As  the  tiny  craft  left  the  ship,  pitching 
and  tumbling  and  tossing  about,  I  watched  her  with 
profound  anxiety ;  and  when  I  saw  her  turn  the  point 
which  placed  her  in  smooth  water,  I  heaved  a  sigh  of 
intense  relief.  The  days  of  the  three  months  passed  at 
Alexandria  were  so  much  alike  that  but  for  the  few 
incidents'  that  I  have  mentioned  one  was  only  the  repe 
tition  of  another.  Upon  the  whole,  however,  the  retro 
spect  is  pleasant,  notwithstanding  its  monotony,  and  I 
am  glad  to  have  had  this  experience. 

I  sailed  from  Alexandria,  and  reached  Piraeus  about 
the  middle  of  February.  I  had  recently  received  an 
order  from  the  Navy  Department  to  send  Lieutenant 
Staunton,  of  my  staff,  off  upon  special  duty  connected 
with  the  Office  of  Intelligence  at  Washington.  I  accord 
ingly  despatched  him  at  this  point,  and,  as  Mrs.  Franklin 
was  on  her  way  from  Switzerland  to  join  me  at  Athens, 
it  was  convenient  for  him  so  to  time  it  as  to  meet  her  at 
Brindisi  en  route.  He  accordingly  did  so,  and  placed 
her  on  board  a  little  Greek  steamer  bound  for  Corinth. 
It  can  be  easily  imagined  what  kind  of  a  craft  it  was, 
for  when  she  called  for  the  stewardess  a  small  boy 
presented  himself  and  said  that  he  was  the  stewardess, 
and  that  there  was  no  woman  except  herself  on  board. 
However,  although  this  condition  of  things  was  not 
encouraging,  she  arrived  safely  at  Corinth,  where  she 
was  met  by  her  son,  Cadet  Dutton,  and  me,  when  we 
went  by  train  to  Athens.  Since  that  day  a  canal  pierc 
ing  the  Isthmus  has  been  opened,  so  that  steamers  can 
go  directly  there  by  water.  Upon  our  arrival  we  went 
to  the  Hotel  Grande  Bretagne,  where  we  took  up  our 
quarters  and  remained  during  the  stay  of  the  Pensacola 
at  Piraeus. 

2  A  369 


MEMORIES    OF    A   REAR-ADMIRAL 

Mr.  Fearn  was  still  our  Minister  at  Athens.  He  gave 
a  handsome  entertainment  soon  after  our  arrival,  at 
which  their  Majesties  the  King  and  Queen  of  Greece 
were  present.  Mrs.  Franklin,  who  had  just  arrived,  met 
them  there  for  the  first  time,  and  was  presented  to  them 
that  night.  The  Queen  afterwards  sent  for  her  and 
gave  her  a  private  audience  at  the  palace.  Their 
Majesties  then  gave  me  a  state  dinner,  at  which  my 
wife  was  one  of  the  guests.  There  were  about  thirty  of 
us  altogether.  It  was  a  very  pretty  affair,  and  seemed 
to  me  to  be  an  enjoyable  occasion  for  every  one.  As  it 
was  the  season  of  Lent  when  we  were  at  Athens,  society 
was  quite  at  a  stand-still ;  there  were  no  entertainments 
save  those  of  the  most  quiet  kind.  We  dined  with 
the  French  Minister  and  breakfasted  at  our  Legation, 
where  we  met  Mr.  Tricoupis,  the  Prime  Minister  of 
Greece,  and  one  of  her  most  distinguished  men.  These, 
and  a  few  teas,  were  about  all  the  affairs  of  that  nature 
which  took  place  during  our  stay.  We  passed  most  of 
our  evenings  at  our  hotel,  after  dinner  retiring  to  the 
coffee-room,  where  we  would  generally  meet  some  agree 
able  Greeks  and  Americans,  and  spend  an  hour  or  two 
with  them. 

I  invited  the  Royal  family  to  visit  me  on  board  the 
Pensacola,  and  to  take  the  mid-day  meal  with  me,  dinner 
or  luncheon.  It  was  really  a  dinner,  for  the  distance  of 
Piraeus  from  Athens,  and  the  fact  that  they  had  to  go 
afloat,  would  have  made  it  very  inconvenient  for  them 
to  go  on  board  at  night  and  return  afterwards  to  Athens. 
Besides  that,  they  were  very  fond  of  going  on  board 
ship,  and  I  felt  sure  they  would  like  to  pass  the  after 
noon  there,  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  did.  At  the 
appointed  time  their  Majesties  came,  accompanied  by  all 
the  members  of  the  Royal  family.  I  invited  our  Minis- 

370 


ATHENS    AND    ITS    RUINS 

ter  and  his  wife,  Captain  Dewey,*  and  some  of  the  prin 
cipal  officers  of  the  ship.  My  Staff-officers,  Lieutenant 
Sargent  and  my  step-son,  Cadet  Arthur  H.  Button,  were 
also  amongst  the  guests.  The  dinner  passed  off,  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  very  pleasantly ;  there  was  no  restraint, 
and  as  soon  as  the  wine  began  to  flow  the  conversation 
became  general  and  animated.  The  band  was  some  dis 
tance  removed  from  the  cabin,  so  that,  while  we  enjoyed 
the  music,  our  conversation  was  not  at  all  disturbed  by  it. 
When  the  King  came  on  board  the  yards  were  manned 
and  a  Royal  salute  was  fired.  The  battalion  of  blue 
jackets  and  marines  were  put  in  full  uniform,  and  drilled 
in  the  presence  of  their  Majesties.  The  troops  were  then 
marched  around  the  deck  to  the  music  of  the  band,  and 
the  whole  scene  was  attractive  and  interesting.  Towards 
evening  the  Royal  family  took  their  leave,  apparently 
much  gratified  by  their  day  on  board. 

Except  to  the  archaeologist,  there  is  not  much  of  inter 
est  to  be  seen  in  or  about  Athens.  We  went  to  Eleusis, 
the  scene  of  the  mysteries,  and  lunched  in  the  Temple 
of  Ceres.  We  were  frequent  visitors  to  the  Acropolis, 
and  often  strolled  amidst  its  beautiful  ruins.  We  never 
tired  of  gazing  upon  the  Parthenon,  with  its  exquisite 
proportions,  mutilated  as  they  are  by  the  vandalism  of 
both  Christians  and  Moslems.  We  would  stroll  about 
amongst  the  columns  of  the  ruined  Temple  of  Jupiter 

*  Since  writing  the  foregoing,  Captain  Dewey  has  been  promoted, 
and  is  now  Commodore  Dewey,  commanding  our  Fleet  in  the  East. 
He  has  just  gained  a  most  brilliant  victory,  has  annihilated  the  Spanish 
Fleet  at  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  has,  no  doubt,  by  this  time  posses 
sion  of  the  whole  group.  The  country  is  now  anxiously  awaiting  his 
report,  filled  with  gratitude  for  what  is  already  known,  but  it  will  not 
be  satisfied  until  this  gallant  achievement  is  rewarded  by  the  promo 
tion  of  Commodore  Dewey,  and  by  a  vote  of  the  thanks  of  Congress, 
both  of  which  would  be  well  merited  and  richly  deserved. 

371 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Olympus,  some  of  which  are  still  standing,  marking  the 
site  and  bearing  witness  to  the  grandeur  of  this  beauti 
ful  structure  of  many  centuries  ago.  We  would  some 
times  pause  in  our  walks  and  take  a  seat  in  an  ancient 
Theatre,  the  ruins  of  which  are  not  so  complete  but 
that  marble  seats  are  still  there,  with  the  initials  of 
the  owners  yet  upon  them,  which  time  has  not  entire 
ly  obliterated.  The  names  of  the  streets  still  remind 
one  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  for  many  of  them  bear  the 
names  of  their  distinguished  Poets  and  Warriors.  The 
modern  Athens  is  well  built,  and,  if  water  is  ever  intro 
duced  into  it,  promises  some  day  to  be  a  beautiful  city. 
What  it  now  wants  is  a  sprinkling  of  green  trees 
amongst  its  buildings,  which  are  at  present  all  white, 
and  not  a  blade  of  grass  exists  to  relieve  the  eye.  The 
King  told  me  that  he  had  formulated  a  plan  by  which 
water  was  to  be  introduced  into  the  City  from  a  point  a 
good  many  miles  distant,  for  there  was  none  available 
in  any  quantity  close  by.  If  he  is  successful,  there  is  no 
reason  why  Athens  should  not  be  one  of  the  most  beau 
tiful  cities  in  the  East. 

I  was  very  much  struck  with  a  peculiar  custom  of 
the  Athenians  in  burying  their  dead.  The  body  is 
borne  upon  a  bier,  dressed  in  the  same  costume  that  it 
was  in  the  habit  of  wearing  when  living.  The  face  is 
exposed  to  view  and  is  painted  so  as  to  make  it,  as 
much  as  possible,  resemble  life.  It  is  thus  borne  along 
the  streets  in  procession,  the  mourners  and  other  follow 
ers  all  being  on  foot.  As  it  passes  along  the  curious  gaze 
upon  the  painted  face  of  the  dead,  and  perhaps  think  it  a 
pleasant  sight ;  to  me  it  was  ghastly  beyond  expression. 

The  time  had  now  arrived  which  I  had  fixed  for  leav 
ing  the  East.  I  determined  to  take  a  leave  of  absence, 
go  to  Venice,  and  pass  down  through  Italy  to  Ville- 

372 


DINING    WITH    KING    GEORGE 

franche,  which  I  eventually  did.  I  had  taken  ray  pas 
sage  in  one  of  the  Austrian  Lloyds  steamers  for  Sunday 
evening.  On  Friday  the  King  sent  one  of  his  aides  to 
me  with  an  invitation  to  my  wife,  my  step-son,  Cadet 
Button,  of  my  staff,  and  me  to  dine  quietly  with  him 
and  the  Queen  on  Saturday  night,  requesting  at  the 
same  time  that  I  should  not  wear  my  uniform,  but 
should  come  in  a  plain  evening  suit.  Mrs.  Franklin 
and  I  were  glad  to  accept,  because  we  knew  that  we 
were  going  to  meet  the  Royal  family  at  a  family  dinner 
such  as  they  had  every  day.  At  the  appointed  time  we 
appeared  at  the  palace,  and  were  met  at  the  drawing- 
room  door  by  His  Majesty  himself.  As  we  entered  the 
room,  my  wife  made  her  reverence  to  the  Queen,  and 
was  about  to  kiss  her  hand,  when  she  said,  "  No,  that 
must  not  be,"  and  kissed  her  on  the  cheek  ;  I  regretted 
that  it  was  not  the  custom  to  serve  us  both  alike.  I 
then  kissed  her  hand,  and  the  reception  was  accom 
plished.  In  a  few  moments  dinner  was  announced,  when 
the  King  gave  his  arm  to  Mrs.  Franklin,  and  I  gave 
mine  to  the  Queen.  At  state  dinners  the  Royal  family 
always  sit  together,  but  on  this  occasion  my  wife  sat  on 
the  King's  right,  and  I,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  table, 
sat  at  the  right  of  the  Queen.  The  Royal  children  who 
were  old  enough  sat  at  the  table,  and  the  younger  ones 
hovered  around  us  as  we  dined.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  dinner,  when  it  was  time  for  the  j^oungest  to  go  to 
bed,  he  lingered,  as  if  not  quite  ready  to  go,  when  the 
Queen  said,  "  Do  you  know  why  he  is  hesitating  about 
going?"  and  when  my  wife  replied  in  the  negative  she 
said,  "He  has  been  promised  that  he  might  kiss  you 
good-night,  and  that  is  what  he  is  waiting  for."  This 
dinner  was  absolutely  simple,  just  such  as  one  might 
partake  of  at  the  house  of  any  gentleman,  at  which  no 

373 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

special  preparations  whatsoever  had  been  made.  There 
was  red  and  white  still  wine  on  the  table,  but  no  cham 
pagne.  There  were  no  maids  of  honor,  no  gentlemen- 
in-waiting,  absolutely  no  one  but  the  Royal  family  and 
ourselves.  After  dinner  we  adjourned  to  the  library, 
where  His  Majesty  and  I  smoked  our  cigars,  and  the 
Queen  and  Mrs.  Franklin  joined  us  there.  The  little 
Princesses  amused  us  by  grinding  a  sort  of  organ-piano. 
A  heavy  frame  containing  the  music  that  was  to  be 
played  would  be  roused  about  by  these  girls  and  placed 
in  the  piano,  when  they  would  go  to  work  and  grind  like 
mad.  It  was  very  interesting  to  see  their  efforts  to  enter 
tain  their  parents'  guests,  for  it  seemed  to  give  them  so 
much  pleasure  to  do  it.  After  they  had  kept  this  up  for  a 
while,  they  retired,  and  at  the  proper  time  we  took  leave. 
The  Queeii  kissed  Mrs.  Franklin  good-bye,  and  we  return 
ed  to  our  hotel,  having  passed  a  most  agreeable  evening. 
King  George  is  the  same  Monarch  who  has  so  recent 
ly  come  before  the  public  in  the  Greco  -  Turkish  war. 
My  pleasant  acquaintance  with  him  and  his  charming 
Queen  added  very  much  to  the  interest  I  felt  in  the  late 
conflict.  My  sympathies  would  have  been,  in  any  case, 
with  the  Greeks,  but  this  feeling  was  very  much  inten 
sified  by  my  personal  acquaintance  with  these  interest 
ing  Sovereigns.  The  King  of  Greece  and  his  family 
are  the  only  persons  in  the  kingdom  who  have  titles  of 
nobility.  Every  other  Greek,  with  the  exception  of  the 
officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  never  mind  how  exalted 
his  station,  is  simply  Mister.  The  Government  is  Re 
publican  in  its  character,  with  an  hereditary  ruler,  who 
has  the  title  of  King ;  in  all  other  respects  it  resembles 
a  pure  Democracy.  I  visited  the  Parliament,  which 
consists  of  one  Chamber,  and  was  very  much  impressed 
with  the  dignity  and  simplicity  of  that  body. 

374 


CHAPTER   XXX 

A  Run  through  Italy — Trieste,  Venice,  and  Bologna — Life  at  Beau- 
lieu— Cadets  in  a  Collision— The  Baths  of  Lucca— Country  Ex 
cursions — Retirement  from  Active  Service — Ceremonies  of  Fare 
well—Home  Again. 

ON  the  Sunday  following  the  dinner  which  I  have 
just  described  I  gave  a  parting  breakfast  to  our  Min 
ister  and  his  interesting  family,  and  embarked  that 
evening  on  one  of  the  Austrian  Lloyds  steamers  for 
Trieste.  We  had  a  pleasant  run  up  the  Adriatic,  touch 
ing  at  Corfu  en  route.  Just  before  entering  the  port 
we  had  an  ugly  collision  with  a  brig,  which  carried 
away  her  bowsprit  and  broke  in  our  rail  on  the  star 
board  quarter.  It  was  quite  dark,  and  the  grinding 
noise  of  the  two  vessels  as  they  scraped  by  each  other 
was  most  unpleasant ;  but  when  I  went  on  deck  and 
heard  the  cocks  crowing  on  shore  I  felt  that  if  the 
worst  should  happen  assistance  was  not  far  off.  As  it 
was,  the  damage  was  slight,  and  we  were  thankful  to 
get  off  so  easy.  "We  merely  touched  at  this  beautiful 
island,  and  kept  on  our  way  to  Trieste,  where  we  ar 
rived  after  the  usual  passage.  The  only  incident  besides 
the  collision  that  impressed  itself  upon  my  mind  during 
the  passage  was  the  fact  that  the  agent  of  the  com 
pany,  who  happened  to  be  on  a  tour  of  inspection,  drank 
every  day  at  breakfast  two  bottles  of  red  wine,  and 
two  also  at  dinner.  Towards  the  end  of  the  second 
bottle  he  would  become  exceedingly  amiable  and  very 

375 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

talkative.  We  remained  at  Trieste  only  a  portion  of  a 
day,  but  took  advantage  of  our  presence  there  to  visit 
Miramar,  that  beautiful  spot  where  Maximilian  and  Car- 
lotta  had  passed  so  many  happy  days  together,  and 
we  could  not  help  contemplating  the  sad  fate  which 
befell  them  both.  The  former,  as  is  well  known,  be 
came  the  Emperor  of  Mexico,  and  was  shot,  while  Car- 
lotta's  life  has  been  one  of  sadness  ever  since. 

We  left  for  Venice  by  steamer  about  midnight,  and 
reached  that  lovely  place  early  in  the  morning.  The  ap 
proach  was  beautiful  as  we  steamed  along  the  Lido  over 
a  sea  as  smooth  as  a  mirror,  with  hardly  wind  enough 
to  fill  the  sails  of  all  colors  which  were  carried  on  the 
tiny  craft  amongst  which  we  threaded  our  way  tow 
ards  the  Grand  Canal.  We  took  up  our  quarters  at  the 
Hotel  de  1'Europe,  not  far  from  where  the  steamer  an 
chored,  and  were  comfortably  lodged  in  our  apartment, 
in  which  it  is  said  Yerdi  composed  the  opera  "  Luisa 
Miller."  Lieutenant  Sargent,  my  Flag -Lieutenant,  ac 
companied  me  from  Athens.  He  sent  for  his  wife,  and 
we  thus  had  a  partie  carree.  We  did  in  Venice  what 
everybody  else  does  —  went  about  in  the  gondola  to 
gether,  and  saw  all  the  sights.  Amongst  other  things 
we  did  was  to  have  our  photographs  taken  while  in  the 
gondola,  a  trifling  matter,  which  I  mention  only  because 
our  gondoliers,  who  were  oldish  fellows,  and  generally 
wore  common  though  good  clothes,  got  themselves  up 
in  their  best  garments  for  this,  which  to  them  was  a 
grand  occasion.  They  looked  so  different  from  what  they 
did  ordinarily  that  it  was  really  pathetic  to  see  the  old 
fellows  doing  honor  to  their  patrons  in  this  way.  When 
we  were  not  doing  the  City  in  the  gondola,  we  would 
lounge  about  the  narrow  streets,  drift  into  the  shops, 
and  sometimes  find  a  bargain.  One  day  we  happened 

376 


DRINK    VODKI    AT    NICE 

to  see  a  time-worn  but  beautiful  engraving  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  made  from  one  of  Rafael's  paintings ;  we  priced 
it  and  were  told  it  was  fifty  centimes  (ten  cents).  We 
lost  no  time  in  clinching  the  bargain,  and  it  is  now,  hav 
ing  been  cleaned  and  framed,  hanging  up  in  my  dress 
ing-room  at  home.  After  we  had  passed  a  fortnight  in 
Venice,  we  left  for  Nice,  touching  at  Bologna  on  the 
way.  In  wandering  about  the  latter  city,  I  drifted  into 
an  umbrella  store,  and  purchased  what  seemed  to  me  to 
be  a  purely  Yankee  invention,  although  I  had  never  seen 
one  in  this  country.  This  was  an  umbrella  that  was 
opened  by  merely  touching  a  spring  in  the  handle,  and 
it  responded  immediately.  I  was  perhaps  induced  to 
purchase  it  because  it  seemed  to  me  so  strange  that  a 
labor-saving  machine  like  this  should  be  found  in  the 
ancient  city  of  Bologna,  where  labor  is  a  drug  in  the 
market.  From  Bologna  we  continued  our  journey,  and 
took  up  our  quarters,  upon  reaching  the  neighborhood 
of  Nice,  at  Beaulieu,  a  pretty  little  village  not  far  from 
Villefranche,  situated  between  Nice  and  Monte  Carlo. 
The  hotel  at  which  we  stopped  was  prettily  situated 
on  the  direct  carriage-road  between  Nice  and  Monaco, 
which  was  rendered  quite  gay  by  the  frequenters  of 
Monte  Carlo,  many  of  whom  preferred  driving  to  going 
there  by  train. 

Amongst  the  sojourners  at  Nice  at  this  time  were 
the  popular  Russian  Minister,  M.  de  Struve,  and  his  at 
tractive  wife.  He  did  us  the  honor  of  inviting  us  to 
breakfast,  and  gave  us  as  a  pousse-cafe  some  vodki,  a 
Russian  drink  which  corresponds  with  our  whiskey.  I 
found  it  very  palatable,  but  strong  enough  to  take  the  top 
of  one's  head  off.  They  came  on  board  the  Pensacola, 
and  gave  us  the  pleasure  of  their  company  for  part  of 
the  afternoon.  Struve  gave  us  some  lessons  in  the  use 

377 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

of  the  samovar,  which  was  very  useful  to  us  afterwards, 
for  without  a  knowledge  of  how  to  manage  it,  although 
it  is  very  useful  at  a  tea  entertainment  it  is  very  diffi 
cult  to  manipulate ;  I  know  of  one  instance  in  Washing 
ton  where  the  tea  was  put  into  the  boiler,  and  when  the 
contents  were  drawn  off  the  result  was  a  kind  of  tea- 
soup.  The  samovar  is  really  only  a  tea-kettle,  a  portion 
of  which  is  the  furnace  that  keeps  the  water  contin 
ually  boiling.  It  is  of  much  use  in  the  country  where 
they  have  not  hot  and  cold  water  constantly  at  hand; 
and  in  Eussia  the  samovar  is  very  useful.  Where  one 
is  travelling,  he  finds  them  of  all  sizes  at  his  tavern;  if 
he  desires  a  bath,  a  large  one  is  sent  to  his  room ;  if  only 
a  cup  of  tea,  a  small  one.  With  the  Russians  they  seem 
almost  indispensable. 

While  we  were  living  at  Beaulieu,  the  Pensacola  was 
lying  at  Villefranche.  The  distance  around  Cape  Ferrat 
by  boat  was  several  miles,  counting  from  one  of  these 
points  to  the  other,  but  there  was  a  very  narrow  Isthmus 
touched  by  the  water  at  Beaulieu  and  also  at  Ville 
franche.  By  crossing  the  Isthmus,  which  was  a  walk  of 
about  ten  minutes,  we  were  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
ship  anchored  at  Villefranche.  In  good  weather  Mrs. 
Franklin  would  come  on  board  and  breakfast  and  dine 
with  me,  and  I  would  accompany  her  back  to  the  hotel 
in  the  evening.  The  Quinebaug  was  with  me  at  Ville 
franche  at  this  time,  and  advantage  was  taken  of  so 
favorable  an  opportunity  to  exercise  the  crews  of  the 
two  vessels,  both  in  fleet  tactics  and  in  the  landing  of 
their  crews  for  military  exercises  on  shore ;  the  French 
authorities  having  very  kindly  given  us  permission  to 
land  an  armed  force  on  their  territory,  a  privilege  not 
often  granted  by  one  foreign  Government  to  another. 

I  had  received  an  order,  while  at  Villefranche,  to  send 

378 


AT    THE    BATHS    OF    LUCCA 

the  Naval  Cadets  of  the  Squadron  to  the  United  States, 
preparatory  to  their  examination,  which  would  take 
place  in  June.  They  had  left  for  Havre,  and  were  to 
take  passage  in  the  French  steamer  Champagne.  My 
wife  and  I  were  taking  breakfast  one  Sunday  morning 
with  Mr.  Pollonais,  the  Mayor  of  Yillefranche,  when  a 
despatch  was  slipped  into  my  hand  stating  that  a  col 
lision  had  taken  place  between  the  Champagne  and  an 
other  steamer,  in  which  the  latter  had  been  sunk  and 
the  former  so  much  injured  as  to  render  necessary  her 
return  to  Havre.  As  my  step-son,  Cadet  Button,  was 
on  board  the  Champagne^  I  knew  that  my  wife's  anxiety 
would  be  intense  if  she  knew  of  this  before  she  heard  of 
the  safe  arrival  of  the  Champagne.  I  therefore  withheld 
the  information  contained  in  the  despatch,  thinking  to 
gain  further  knowledge  of  the  matter  when  I  reached 
the  ship.  When  I  returned  on  board  a  despatch  was 
placed  in  my  hands  from  Mr.  Dutton  himself,  announc 
ing  his  safe  return  to  Havre,  and  his  intention  to  sail 
in  another  French  steamer  of  the  same  line.  My  wife 
was  made  as  happy  by  the  last  despatch  as  she  would 
have  been  rendered  miserable  by  the  first.  I  learned 
afterwards  that  the  American  Naval  Cadets  were  of 
great  assistance  to  the  Captain  of  the  Champagne  after 
the  collision  in  quieting  the  fears  of  the  passengers,  in 
encouraging  them  to  feel  that  there  was  no  doubt  that 
they  would  arrive  safely  in  port. 

Soon  after  the  events  which  I  have  just  related  the 
Flag-ship  went  to  Spezzia,  where  she  was  placed  in  the 
dry -dock  and  thoroughly  overhauled.  I  went,  accom 
panied  by  my  wife,  to  the  Bagni  di  Lucca,  where  I  re 
mained  for  several  weeks.  Lieutenant  Staunton,  my 
Flag-Lieutenant,  and  his  wife  were  also  of  the  party. 
We  went  to  Pagnini's  Hotel,  where  I  had  stayed  nearly 

379 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

forty  years  before.  I  had  the  curiosity  to  look  at  the 
register  of  the  hotel,  and  there  saw  inscribed  the  names 
of  some  of  my  shipmates  during  my  first  cruise  as  a 
Passed  Midshipman.  These  baths  at  this  time  were  no 
longer  of  the  importance  as  a  place  of  summer  resort 
that  they  had  been  during  my  first  visit.  At  that  time 
the  Grand  Duchess  of  Tuscany  held  her  court  here,  and 
many  persons  were  attracted  by  the  gaj^ety  which  that 
circumstance  gave  to  the  place.  Since  those  days  Italy 
has  become  a  united  country,  and  these  Princes  and  their 
Principalities  have  all  disappeared.  I  amused  myself 
while  here  in  taking  the  baths,  not  for  medicinal  pur 
poses,  but  because  they  were  pleasant  and  even  luxuri 
ous. 

Through  this  beautiful  valley  in  which  the  baths  are 
situated  flow  two  small  rivers,  the  Lima  and  the  Serchio ; 
their  waters  are  clear  and  sparkling,  and,  as  they  are  in 
sight  from  every  quarter  of  the  village,  they  impart  to 
the  whole  place  an  air  of  freshness  which  produces  a 
most  pleasing  effect.  The  Stauntons  and  ourselves  oc 
cupied  much  of  the  time  while  we  were  here  by  making 
excursions  on  mule -back  to  the  various  points  of  in 
terest  about  the  baths.  The  mountains  which  surround 
this  lovely  valley  are  nearly  all  surmounted  by  little 
villages,  resembling,  more  than  anything  else  to  which 
I  can  liken  them,  wasps'  nests  plastered  about  on  the 
different  points.  They  were  probably  first  placed  in 
these  inaccessible  positions  from  motives  of  safety,  so 
that  they  could  more  easily  be  defended  than  in  the 
valleys  below.  As  a  rule,  all  the  occupants  of  these  lit 
tle  towns  were  tillers  of  the  soil.  They  would  sally  out 
each  morning  from  their  little  nests  on  the  tops  of  the 
hills,  taking  with  them  their  agricultural  implements, 
and  after  the  day's  work  would  drag  them  back  again 


PREPARING    TO    RESIGN    COMMAND 

and  lock  them  up  within  the  walls  of  their  little  cities. 
My  impression  is  that  this  custom,  which  had  obtained 
for  centuries,  has  continued  until  a  very  recent  date ; 
but  now  that  Italy  is  united,  and  peace  reigns  amongst 
its  inhabitants  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land,  it  would  seem  to  be  no  longer  necessary.  In 
our  excursions  we  visited  many  of  these  villages,  almost 
always  meeting  with  some  object  of  interest,  besides 
the  view  from  them,  which  was  always  superb.  There 
were,  of  course,  the  churches,  with  sometimes  a  his 
tory  connected  with  them,  which  the  priest  in  charge 
seemed  always  glad  to  relate  to  us.  It  was  thus  that 
we  passed  two  or  three  weeks  very  pleasantly,  when 
we  went  to  Leghorn  by  way  of  Pisa,  where  we  passed 
one  night  at  a  hotel  placed  close  down  on  the  banks  of 
the  Arno.  I  met  here,  at  the  table  d'hote  dinner,  Mr. 
Eugene  Schuyler,  our  former  Secretary  of  Legation  in 
Eussia,  and  we  spent  an  interesting  evening  with  Mrs. 
Schuyler  and  him;  they  were  both  cultivated  people, 
and  their  presence  there,  caused  the  short  time  of  our 
stay  to  pass  very  agreeably.  Mrs.  Schuyler  belonged 
to  the  well-known  New  York  family  of  Kings.  Mr. 
Schuyler  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  the  Turkish  atrocities 
in  Bulgaria,  and  wrote  a  most  powerful  expose  of  them, 
which  I  think  at  the  time  was  considered  as  having  had 
some  weight  in  bringing  about  the  Kusso-Turkish  war. 

We  left  Pisa  the  following  day  and  went  to  Leghorn, 
where  again  we  took  up  our  quarters  at  the  Grand 
Hotel.  I  found  the  Flag-ship  there,  and  went  on  board 
and  made  my  preparations  for  turning  over  the  com 
mand  to  my  successor.  The  24th  day  of  August  was 
approaching,  when  by  the  operation  of  law  I  would  be 
placed  upon  the  retired  list.  My  Flag-Lieutenant,  Staun- 
ton,  and  I  despatched  our  wives  to  Paris  some  days  in 

381 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

advance  of  our  intended  departure,  in  order  that  all  the 
preliminary  arrangements  with  the  dressmakers  and 
cloakmakers  and  bonnet  people  might  be  made  before 
our  arrival.  My  successor,  Eear- Admiral  Greer,  arrived 
at  Leghorn  a  day  or  two  before  the  day  upon  which  I 
was  to  be  relieved.  On  the  24th,  at  noon,  my  flag 
was  hauled  down  and  saluted  with  thirteen  guns,  and 
that  of  Admiral  Greer  was  hoisted  and  saluted  with  the 
same  number.  The  officers  and  crew  were  all  assem 
bled  on  the  quarter-deck.  I  read  my  orders  detaching 
me  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  United  States  Naval 
force  on  the  European  Station,  and  Admiral  Greer  read 
his,  appointing  him  as  my  successor.  I  made  a  few  re 
marks  to  the  crew,  shook  the  officers  by  the  hand  in 
bidding  them  farewell,  when  the  parting  Admiral  and 
the  coming  Admiral  went  below  and  drank  each  other's 
health ;  and  the  function  was  at  an  end.  Admiral  Greer 
was  duly  installed,  and  I  was  free  to  go  and  come  as 
I  liked. 

I  passed  the  rest  of  the  day  on  board,  and  did  not 
leave  the  ship  until  about  ten  o'clock,  when  I  went  di 
rectly  to  the  train.  I  gave  to  the  new  Admiral  and  his 
staff  that  night  the  last  dinner-party  that  I  was  to 
have  on  board  the  Pensacola,  at  which  everything 
passed  off  in  the  most  agreeable  manner.  When  it  was 
time  to  go  to  the  train  the  barge  was  manned,  and 
Admiral  Greer  with  his  Staff -officer,  and  Lieutenant 
Staunton,  my  Flag-Lieutenant,  and  I  got  into  the  boat. 
It  is  contrary  to  the  regulations  for  the  crew  to  be 
ordered  to  cheer  any  officer  upon  his  taking  or  relin 
quishing  a  command,  but  it  seems  almost  impossible  to 
prevent  an  involuntary  impulse  of  the  kind.  On  this 
occasion,  as  the  barge  shoved  off  from  the  ship,  I  ob 
served  an  unusual  commotion  on  board,  and  three  hearty 


IN    NEW    YORK    AT    LAST 

cheers  went  up  from  the  forecastle,  which  we  returned 
from  the  barge ;  then  all  was  quiet,  and  we  sped  away 
for  the  landing  at  Scala  Eeggia.  When  we  reached 
there  I  bade  my  old  barge's  crew  good-bye,  when  they, 
fifteen  in  all,  stood  up  in  the  boat  with  their  oars  erect, 
the  blades  high  over  their  heads,  and  gave  me  three 
rousing  cheers.  This  last  demonstration  was  most  touch 
ing,  for  these  hearty  fellows  had  been  rowing  me  about 
the  waters  of  Europe  for  more  than  two  years,  and  I 
felt  very  much  attached  to  them.  I  then  went  to  the 
train,  where  I  found  some  of  my  Leghorn  friends  to 
speed  me  on  my  way.  I  kissed  the  hands  of  the  ladies, 
and  shook  those  of  the  men,  and  was  off  for  Paris. 
Staunton  and  I  took  the  night  train,  and  reached  our 
destination  in  due  time  the  next  day.  I  had  never 
crossed  the  Alps  before,  and  as  I  was  now  free  from  all 
the  care  and  responsibility  of  my  late  command,  I  en 
joyed  to  the  fullest  extent  the  grandeur  of  the  scenery 
through  which  we  passed. 

We  went  to  the  Hotel  de  P Empire,  and  found  our 
selves  very  comfortably  lodged  in  a  central  position  in 
Paris.  Our  passage  had  been  taken  in  the  Bourgogne 
for  New  York,  and  in  a  few  days  we  were  on  board  of 
her  on  our  way  home.  My  friend  Charley  Marshall, 
who  had  been  with  me  on  board  the  Pensacola  in  the 
East,  had  since  then  been  appointed  by  Mr.  Hewitt,  the 
Mayor  of  New  York,  as  one  of  the  Dock  Commissioners. 
I  had  written  to  him,  asking  him,  now  that  he  was  a 
Dock  Commissioner,  to  appear  upon  one  of  his  docks 
when  our  steamer  arrived  and  help  me  through  with 
my  trunks.  Marshall  was  the  first  man  I  saw,  and  he 
did  render  me  very  great  service  in  facilitating  the  ex 
amination  of  my  baggage. 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

At  Home  in  Washington — Admiral  Raymond  Rodgers — A  Club  Co 
terie — Patriotic  Societies — The  Memorial  Society  of  Washington — 
Suggestions  and  Plans  —  International  Marine  Conference — The 
Delegates  and  their  Work — Courtesies  to  their  President — Notes  of 
the  Proceedings. 

AFTER  our  arrival  in  America  we  made  a  few  visits 
to  friends  in  the  North,  and  then  took  up  our  abode  in 
the  City  of  Washington,  where  some  years  before  I 
had  built  a  small  house,  to  serve  as  a  sort  of  moorings 
after  I  had  completed  the  active  work  of  my  profession. 
I  resumed  my  old  habits  and  went  to  the  Metropolitan 
Club  every  afternoon  for  whist,  and,  with  the  other  oc 
cupations  that  I  found  myself  taking  up,  I  learned  that 
the  retired  list  was  not  at  all  a  place  for  simple  loung 
ing,  and  soon  discovered  that  all  my  time  was  fully 
occupied,  and  that  it  was,  chiefly,  to  be  so  in  the 
future. 

My  most  intimate  friend  and  almost  constant  com 
panion  at  this  time,  and  even  up  to  the  day  of  his  death, 
was  Admiral  Eaymond  Kodgers.  I  never  in  all  my 
intercourse  with  men  had  so  great  an  admiration  for 
any  one  as  I  had  for  him;  to  this  was  added  an  affec 
tion  which  ripened  from  day  to  day  into  a  friendship 
such  as  I  had  never  formed  with  any  other  man.  There 
was  a  long  period  of  time  during  which  not  a  day 
passed  without  our  seeing  each  other.  I  had  an  attack 
of  la  grippe  which  confined  me  to  the  house  for  a  fort- 

384 


DEATH    OF    TWO    INTIMATE    FRIENDS 

night.  Rodgers  came  to  see  me  every  day  except  the 
last,  when  I  felt  sure  that  there  was  something  wrong. 
The  first  time  that  I  went  out  of  the  house  after  my 
attack,  I  called  immediately  at  his  hotel  and  found  him 
ill  in  bed.  I  continued  my  visits  each  day,  and  soon 
felt  that  my  poor  friend  would  probably  never  recover ; 
and  when  I  learned  that  his  physician  had  given  orders 
that  no  one  but  the  members  of  his  immediate  family  and 
I  were  to  be  permitted  to  see  him,  my  worst  fears  were 
realized.  He  lingered  but  a  few  days  after  that,  and 
then  passed  quietly  away.  Admiral  Rodgers  through 
out  his  whole  career  had  always  been  an  ornament  to 
the  Service ;  in  him  were  embodied  all  the  finest  traits 
which  go  to  make  up  the  highest  type  of  the  J^aval 
officer.  Taking  him  altogether,  he  was,  in  my  opinion, 
the  most  complete  all-around  man  that  I  have  ever 
known  in  any  walk  of  life. 

Another  of  my  intimate  friends  at  this  time  was 
Kearney  Warren.  His  sweet  nature  endeared  him  to 
every  one  who  knew  him.  He  and  Rodgers  and  I  would 
take  long  walks  together,  and  the  memories  of  those 
promenades  rest  with  me  as  amongst  the  most  pleasing 
recollections  of  those  days.  I  would  often  dine  with  Mrs. 
Warren  and  him  at  their  charming  home,  and  I  never 
shall  forget  how  delightful  those  entertainments  always 
were.  The  last  few  years  of  Kearney  Warren's  life  were 
passed  as  an  invalid,  but  owing  to  the  tender  care  of  his 
devoted  wife  his  illness  was  almost  painless,  and  his 
faculties  up  to  the  very  last  were  as  bright  as  ever. 
It  was  a  melancholy  satisfaction  to  me  to  have  been 
selected  as  pall-bearer  to  these  two  friends,  to  whom  I 
was  so  much  attached  during  their  lives,  and  for  whose 
memories,  now  that  they  are  gone,  I  cherish  the  fondest 
devotion. 

2s  385 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Amongst  the  other  fine  fellows  who  figured  at  the 
Metropolitan  Club  in  those  days,  of  whom  I  was  very 
fond,  were  Jerome  Bonaparte,  Titian  Coffey,  David 
King,  and  Admiral  Temple.  They  are  all  now  dead. 
During  their  lifetime  a  number  of  us  would  assemble  in 
a  certain  corner  of  the  Club ;  every  day,  about  eleven 
o'clock,  Temple  would  occupy  the  same  seat,  and  was 
tacitly  acknowledged  as  Chairman  or  Head  Centre  of 
this  little  coterie.  There  is  no  subject  under  the  sun 
that  was  not  discussed  there,  and  as  those  composing  it 
were  all  men  of  the  world,  full  of  experiences  of  all  kinds, 
what  was  said  was  not  only  instructive  but  interesting, 
and  if  it  could  have  been  collected  into  a  volume  might 
have  been  extremely  entertaining. 

Governor  John  Lee  Carroll,  one  of  my  most  intimate 
friends,  although  not  a  resident  of  Washington,  passed 
most  of  his  winters  there.  I  saw  a  great  deal  of  him  in 
those  days,  and  formed  a  very  strong  attachment  for 
him  and  his  interesting  family.  I  have  visited  them  at 
their  country-seat,  Dougheregan  Manor,  where  hospital 
ity  is  dispensed  in  the  best  Maryland  style,  and  where 
American  country  life  is  seen  in  its  very  best  form. 
When  the  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
said, "  Write  me  down  as  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton," 
he  established  for  this  family  a  motto  and  granted  to  it 
a  patent  of  American  nobility,  both  of  which  will  endure 
as  long  as  there  is  a  United  States  of  America.  The 
Governor  is  still  comparatively  a  young  man,  and  I  trust 
he  has  yet  many  good  years  before  him. 

Amongst  the  notable  characters  in  Washington  at  the 
present  time  is  Colonel  James  G.  Eerret,  whom  it  gives 
me  much  pleasure  to  enumerate  amongst  my  warmest 
friends.  He  is  now  about  eighty-three  years  of  age, 
and  seems  to  me  to  be  as  full  of  youth  as  he  was  at  sixty. 

386 


CLUB    ENJOYMENTS 

He  has  been  in  political  life  since  the  days  of  General 
Jackson,  and  has  filled  many  positions  of  trust  and 
responsibility  during  that  interval.  He  was  sent  a  few 
years  ago  to  the  Legislature  of  Maryland,  and  held  then 
identically  the  same  position  which  he  had  occupied 
fifty-five  years  before.  He  looks  now  as  if  he  might 
live  to  be  a  hundred. 

My  habit  is  to  go  to  the  Metropolitan  Club  in  the 
morning,  where  I  get  my  exercise  at  pool  for  the  day, 
and  in  the  afternoon,  for  my  recreation  at  whist.  The 
most  unique  figure  in  our  pool-party  is  General  Van 
Yliet,  and  although  he  is  upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age 
he  plays  as  well  as  any  of  us.  Our  party  generally  con 
sists  of  five ;  its  personnel  changes  from  time  to  time, 
some  disappear  and  others  come  along.  Van  Yliet, 
Admiral  Greer,  and  I  have  been  constant  attendants  for 
a  number  of  years.  The  three  that  I  have  mentioned, 
and  Mr.  Lequer  and  Mr.  Kichardson,  at  the  present  time 
make  up  the  five.  Our  whist -party  has  consisted  of 
much  the  same  men  for  a  number  of  years.  As  it  is  now 
constituted,  the  members  are  Colonel  Berret,  Admiral 
Greer,  Ex-Surgeon-General  Grier,  Judge  Hilly er,  and 
I.  JSTow  and  then  an  outsider  comes  in,  and  there 
are  times  when  we  form  two  tables,  but  these  that  I 
have  named  can  be  relied  upon  to  be  at  their  posts 
every  day  during  the  winter,  when  the  weather  is 
suitable. 

I  have  been  thus  explicit  in  mentioning  the  persons 
who  figured  in  these  games  at  the  time  I  write,  for  if 
these  reminiscences  should  ever  be  published,  and  some 
member  of  the  Metropolitan  Club  of  the  future  should 
happen  to  see  them,  it  might  not  be  uninteresting  to  him 
to  know  who  the  people  were  that  did  the  same  thing 
one  hundred  years  ago  that  he  was  doing  in  his  day, 

387 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

and  it  might  be  still  more  interesting  if  he  discovered 
that  some  one  of  them  was  his  great-grandfather. 

After  my  return  from  my  last  cruise  I  became  a  mem 
ber  of  a  number  of  societies  of  a  patriotic  character — 
such  as  the  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  the 
Washington  Monument  Society,  and  the  Memorial  So 
ciety  of  the  City  of  Washington.  I  was  also  chosen 
an  honorary  member  of  the  Society  of  Foreign  Wars. 
The  Washington  Monument  Society  seems  to  have  out 
lived  its  usefulness,  but  it  still  holds  meetings  from  time 
to  time,  generally  for  the  purpose  of  electing  new  mem 
bers  to  fill  vacancies.  During  the  lifetime  of  Dr.  Toner 
it  was  his  habit  to  entertain  at  luncheon  a  large  num 
ber  of  well-known  people  every  22d  of  February.  A 
formal  meeting  of  the  Society  would  be  held  on  that 
anniversary,  after  which  several  hundred  guests  would 
appear  and  do  honor  to  the  occasion*. 

The  object  of  the  Memorial  Society  of  the  City  of 
Washington  is  a  very  commendable  one.  Its  purpose 
is  to  preserve  and  mark  with  tablets  containing  inscrip 
tions  any  place  or  house  which  would  be  interesting  as  a 
landmark  in  history,  and  would  serve  to  perpetuate  the 
name  and  deeds  of  distinguished  Americans.  This  Society 
is  composed  of  a  number  of  distinguished  gentlemen. 
The  President  is  Chief -Justice  Fuller  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Secretary  is  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Hamlin,  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Covenant. 
Amongst  the  members  are :  Judge  Hagner,  Judge  Ban 
croft  Davis,  Mr.  Gardner  Hubbard,  Mr.  Leiter,  Mr.  My 
ron  Parker,  and  a  number  of  other  well-known  men. 
I  have  made  one  or  two  suggestions  to  the  Society 
which  I  hope  some  day  will  be  carried  out.  I  proposed 
that  when  the  Constitution,  Hartford,  and  Kearsarge 
were  no  longer  utilized  as  ships  of  war  they  should  be 


SUGGESTIONS    TO    MEMORIAL    SOCIETY 

brought  to  Washington  and  permanently  moored  at 
some  convenient  point  of  easy  access  to  the  public. 
These  ships  should,  as  nearly  as  possible,  be  equipped 
in  the  same  manner  and  have  the  same  batteries  that 
they  had  when  they  fought  their  battles.  Once  in  a 
good  state  of  repair,  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  keep 
them  so,  and  it  would  require  but  few  men  to  take  care 
of  them.  An  entrance-fee  of,  say,  a  dime  might  defray 
all  the  necessary  expenses  of  such  an  establishment, 
even  if  but  a  fraction  of  the  tourists  who  visit  Washing 
ton  should  go  on  board  of  them.  At  the  time  I  made 
this  suggestion  the  Kea/rsarge^  which  has  been  since 
lost,  was  still  in  existence.  The  other  suggestion  which 
I  made  was  to  have  a  tablet  placed  on  the  house  now 
occupied  by  Mrs.  Beale.  On  the  H  Street  side  of  the 
house  is  now  a  blind  door,  which  was  formerly  a  real 
door ;  I  proposed  to  have  placed  there  a  tablet  contain 
ing  an  inscription  which  shall  read  somewhat  as  fol 
lows  :  "  This  house  is  the  property  of  Mrs.  Beale.  It  is 
a  portion  of  the  estate  of  the  late  General  Beale,  who 
was  formerly  an  Officer  of  the  Navy,  and  later  United 
States  Minister  to  Austria-Hungary  during  the  Admin 
istration  of  General  Grant.  It  was  through  this  door 
way  that  Commodore  Decatur  was  carried  when  he  was 
mortally  wounded  in  a  duel  which  he  fought  with  Com 
modore  Barron,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  died  soon 
afterwards.  Decatur  was  one  of  the  most  gallant  offi 
cers  the  Navy  ever  produced,  and  the  burning  of  the 
Philadelphia,  on  the  Barbary  Coast,  was  pronounced 
by  the  great  Admiral,  Lord  Nelson,  the  most  daring  act 
of  the  age."  The  only  tablet  which  our  Society  has 
thus  far  placed  is  upon  the  house  now  used  as  the  Cos 
mos  Club,  formerly  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Madison,  but 
it  is  in  such  a  position  that  it  is  hardly  legible  from  the 

389 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

street.  The  energies  of  the  Society  have  been  hitherto 
centred  upon  getting  Congress  to  make  an  appropria 
tion  for  the  purchase  of  the  house  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
died.  In  this  they  have  met  with  success,  and  it  is  now 
the  property  of  the  Society,  or,  at  all  events,  under  its 
control.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  now  that  this  more  impor 
tant  point  has  been  carried,  more  attention  will  be  given 
to  those  of  minor  consequence. 

Early  in  the  year  1889  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
Mr.  Whitney,  sent  for  me  and  informed  me  that  he  de 
sired  me  to  serve  as  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  Inter 
national  Marine  Conference  which  was  soon  to  assem 
ble  in  Washington.  Congress  had  passed  an  Act  creating 
the  Conference,  and  had  invited  all  of  the  maritime  na 
tions  of  the  world  to  send  delegates  to  participate  in 
its  deliberations.  By  the  end  of  September  nearly  all 
of  them  had  gathered  at  Washington,  ready  for  the  dis 
cussion  of  the  programme  which  this  Government  had 
prepared  and  proposed  to  lay  before  them.  We  all 
assembled  at  the  Diplomatic  Chamber  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  State,  where  we  were  met  by  the  Secretary  of 
State,  Mr.  Elaine,  who  made  a  brief  but  impressive  ad 
dress.  Then,  upon  motion  of  Mr.  Charles  Hall,  a  Mem 
ber  of  Parliament  and  the  leading  delegate  from  Great 
Britain,  I  was  elected  President  of  the  Conference.  We 
afterwards  called  in  a  body  at  the  White  House,  and 
were  presented  to  President  Harrison.  Lieutenant  Cott- 
man  was  chosen  Secretary,  and  by  his  able  management 
we  were  soon  prepared  to  proceed  to  business.  Our  first 
meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Wallach,  which 
was  hired  for  the  occasion,  and  we  continued  our  sessions 
there  for  a  few  weeks,  when  it  was  thought  advisable  to 
move  to  Wormley's  Hotel,  the  large  hall  of  which  we 
occupied  throughout  the  rest  of  the  Conference. 

390 


DISCUSSIONS    OF    MARINE    CONFERENCE 

The  "  Eules  of  the  Eoad  "  was  the  topic  that  occupied 
most  of  our  attention,  but  there  was  hardly  a  maritime 
subject  that  did  not  come  in  for  a  share  of  our  delibera 
tions.  The  delegates  from  Great  Britain  at  first  declared 
their  intention  of  taking  part  only  in  the  consideration 
of  the  "Kules  of  the  Road,"  but  when  they  discovered 
that  the  delegates  were  almost,  if  not  altogether,  unani 
mously  in  favor  of  discussing  the  whole  programme, 
they  fell  into  line  and  continued  with  us  to  the  end. 
When  we  were  fully  organized  and  in  good  working 
order,  we  found  that  we  had  a  great  deal  of  work  before 
us,  more  than  I  had  anticipated,  and  I  fancy  more  by  far 
than  many  of  the  delegates  had  contemplated.  Instead 
of  eating  their  Christmas  dinners  at  ho3ne5  as  they  had 
expected,  when  that  day  arrived  they  were  a  deliberative 
body  on  this  side  of  the  water. 

The  proceedings  of  this  Conference  were  published  by 
the  Department  of  State  in  three  large  volumes,  so  I  do 
not  propose  to  refer  much  to  them  in  the  course  of  this 
narrative.  Easy  access  can  be  had  to  them  by  any  one 
interested  in  their  contents.  The  leaders  in  the  debate 
were  Judge  Goodrich,  then  an  Admiralty  lawyer,  but 
since  then  elevated  to  the  bench,  and  Mr.  Charles  Hall, 
then  a  Member  of  Parliament,  now  Sir  Charles  Hall. 
Others  who  participated  were  Dr.  Sieveking  and  Captain 
Mensing,  of  Germany;  Captain  Richard,  of  France;  Cap 
tain  Sampson,*  of  our  Navy;  Mr.  Carter,  Minister  from 
Hawaii;  Rear- Admiral  Bowden- Smith;  Rear- Admiral 

*  Sampson  served  with  me  as  Assistant  Superintendent  of  the  Naval 
Observatory  when  I  was  the  Superintendent,  and  also  as  one  of  my  fellow- 
delegates  to  the  International  Marine  Conference.  He  now  commands  our 
fleet  in  Cuban  waters,  and  is  engaged  in  most  important  work,  and  I  am 
confident  that  when  he  is  heard  from  he  will  give  an  account  of  himself 
of  which  the  country  will  be  proud. 

391 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

Sir  George  Nares ;  Mr.  Flood,  of  Norway,  and  many 
more,  but  these  I  have  mentioned  were  generally  the 
talking  delegates,  though  they  were  working  members 
as  well.  They  gave  a  great  deal  of  information  to  their 
hearers,  and  were  as  intelligent  a  body  of  men,  in  my 
opinion,  as  ever  discussed  these  important  subjects.  I 
have  forgotten  the  exact  number  of  the  delegates,  but 
it  was  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  seventy. 
Including  myself,  seven  Admirals  sat  in  the  Conference : 
those  from  Great  Britain  were  Sir  George  Nares,  Bow- 
den-Smith,  and  Molyneux ;  from  Eussia  came  Admiral 
Kaznakoflt ;  from  Austria  -  Hungary,  Admiral  Spaun ; 
from  Chili,  Admiral  Yiel.  Admiral  Bowden-Smith  said 
to  me,  "  Admiral,  you  command  more  Admirals  than  any 
one  whom  I  have  ever  known  or  read  of" — he  meant, 
of  course,  in  a  parliamentary  way.  Nothing  could  have 
been  more  harmonious  than  our  proceedings ;  points  of 
order  seemed  to  adjust  themselves,  and  the  manner  of 
the  delegates  towards  each  other  was  always  character 
ized  by  the  utmost  urbanity  and  courtesy.  Towards  me, 
as  their  Presiding  Officer,  and,  indeed,  at  all  times,  they 
evinced  the  most  profound  respect,  and  I  feel  sure  that 
when  we  separated  there  was  a  mutual  feeling  of  the 
kindest  nature  between  the  delegates  and  the  President 
of  the  Conference. 

There  were  some  very  handsome  entertainments  given 
during  the  stay  of  the  delegates  amongst  us,  but  they 
left  just  before  the  gay  season  was  at  its  height,  so  that 
in  this  respect  they  did  not  see  Washington  at  its  best. 
The  Metropolitan  Club  extended  to  them  its  privileges, 
and  they  were  in  all  respects  treated  with  a  considera 
tion  which  I  think  they  highly  appreciated.  They  pre 
sented  to  me  a  handsomely  bound  Album  containing 
cabinet -size  pictures  of  themselves,  which  I  prize  very 

392 


OPENING  OF  MARINE  CONFERENCE 

highly  as  a  memento  of  this  gathering  of  most  interest 
ing  men  from  all  parts  of  the  maritime  world.  The 
Department  of  State  also  did  me  the  honor  to  present 
me  with  the  chair  from  which  I  presided,  together  with 
the  gavel  I  used  on  that  occasion.  The  latter  had 
written  upon  it  suitable  inscriptions  explanatory  of  the 
event. 

This  seems  to  me  to  be  an  appropriate  place  for  in 
serting  into  this  narrative  the  few  brief  remarks  which 
were  made  at  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  Conference, 
which  I  quote  from  its  protocol  as  follows : 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Wednesday,  October  16,  1889. 

"  In  response  to  the  invitation  extended  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  to  all  the  maritime  govern 
ments  to  be  represented  at  an  International  Marine 
Conference  to  secure  greater  safety  for  life  and  proper 
ty  at  sea,  delegates  from  the  following  countries,  Aus 
tria-Hungary,  Belgium,  China,  Chili,  Denmark,  France, 
Germany,  Great  Britain,  Guatemala,  Honduras,  Italy, 
Japan,  Mexico,  The  Netherlands,  Norway,  Russia,  Siam, 
Spain,  Sweden,  the  United  States  of  America,  and  Ven 
ezuela,  assembled  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of 
October  16,  1889,  in  the  diplomatic  reception-room  of 
the  State  Department. 

"After  the  presentation  of  the  delegates  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  State,  the  latter  welcomed  them  in  the  follow 
ing  words : 

"  i  Gentlemen :  It  is  the  cause  of  extreme  gratification 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  that  its  invita 
tion  to  the  maritime  powers  of  the  world  has  been  met 
with  so  general  a  response.  Representatives  from  Asia, 
from  Europe,  from  North  and  South  America,  and  from 
the  Isles  of  the  Sea,  will  compose  the  Conference.  On 

393 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

behalf  of  the  United  States  I  welcome  you  all,  gentle 
men,  to  the  honorable,  the  scientific,  the  philanthropic 
duties  which  lie  before  you.  The  already  and  the  rap 
idly  increasing  intercourse  between  continent  and  con 
tinent,  between  nation  and  nation,  demands  that  every 
protection  against  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  and  every 
guard  for  the  safety  of  human  life,  shall  be  provided. 

" '  The  spoken  languages  of  the  world  will  continue 
to  be  many ;  but  necessity  commands  that  the  unspoken 
language  of  the  sea  shall  be  one.  That  language  must 
be  as  universal  as  the  needs  of  man  for  commerce  and 
intercourse  with  his  fellow -man.  The  deep  interest 
which  the  maritime  nations  have  taken  in  the  questions 
at  issue  is  shown  by  the  eminent  character  and  the 
wide  experience  of  the  delegates  to  whom  they  have 
committed  the  important  work.  Again,  gentlemen,  I 
welcome  you,  and,  after  your  preliminary  organization 
is  completed,  it  will  be  my  pleasure  to  present  you  in 
person  to  the  President  of  the  United  States.' 

"  The  delegates  having  then  assembled  for  permanent 
organization,  Mr.  Charles  Hall,  Q.C.,  M.P.,  one  of  the 
delegates  from  Great  Britain,  being  granted  the  floor, 
nominated  Hear- Admiral  S.  R.  Franklin,  one  of  the  del 
egates  from  the  United  States  of  America,  as  permanent 
President  of  the  Conference.  This  motion  being  sec 
onded  by  several  delegates,  and  voted  upon  in  the  af 
firmative  unanimously,  Rear- Admiral  S.  R.  Franklin  was 
declared  elected  to  the  Chair;  in  accepting  which  honor 
he  addressed  the  Conference  in  the  following  words  : 

" '  Before  proceeding  to  the  further  organization  of 
the  Conference,  I  desire  to  express  to  the  delegates  my 
high  appreciation  of  the  distinguished  honor  they  have 
conferred  upon  me  in  selecting  me  to  preside  over  their 
deliberations. 

894 


MARINE    CONFERENCE    CONCLUDED 

" <  The  little  experience  which  my  profession  affords 
in  the  parliamentary  duties  I  am  now  called  upon  to  per 
form  encourages  me  to  hope  for  the  indulgence  of  the 
Conference  in  any  errors  of  judgment  I  may  commit. 

" '  I  feel  that  it  is  needless  for  me  to  say  that  in  any 
rulings  or  decisions  which  I  may  be  called  upon  to 
make,  I  shall  endeavor  to  be  governed  by  a  spirit  of 
entire  fairness,  and  I  trust  that  my  efforts  will  meet  the 
approval  of  the  Conference. 

"  '  Thanking  you,  gentlemen,  for  the  honor  you  have 
done  me,  I  now  declare  the  Conference  ready  for  its 
further  organization.' 

"  Mr.  William  W.  Goodrich,  a  delegate  for  the  United 
States  of  America,  then  moved  that  the  Conference 
adjourn  until  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of  Thurs 
day,  October  17,  1889,  to  meet  at  the  Wallach  House. 
This  motion  being  voted  upon  and  carried  unanimously, 
the  meeting  was  declared  adjourned. 

"The  delegates  \vere  afterwards  formally  presented 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States;  the  latter,  stand 
ing  in  the  centre  of  the  semicircle,  spoke  a  few  informal 
words  of  welcome,  expressing  his  gratification  that  the 
Conference  had  assembled  under  such  pleasant  auspices. 
He  expressed  his  deep  personal  interest  in  the  result 
which  might  be  anticipated,  and,  he  trusted,  attained, 
by  the  Conference,  and  hoped  that  the  passage  of  the 
seas  might  be  made  as  safe  as  it  has  been  made  rapid. 

"  The  President,  in  conclusion,  said  that  the  object 
for  which  the  Conference  had  assembled  was  one  which 
would  attract  universal  interest,  and  its  attainment 
would  be  warmly  welcomed  by  all  nations.  .  .  . 

"  Mr.  Hall  (Great  Britain).  <  Mr.  President,  now  that 
the  labors  of  the  Conference  are  concluded,  I  would  ask 

395 


MEMORIES    OF    A    REAR-ADMIRAL 

your  permission  to  be  allowed  to  move  a  resolution, 
which,  I  can  assure  you,  is  not  a  mere  matter  of  form. 
I  wish  to  move  a  proposition  which  I  am  sure  will  be 
accepted  without  a  single  dissenting  voice  iri  this  room, 
for  it  is  a  resolution  to  tender  a  hearty  and  cordial  vote 
of  thanks  to  you,  Mr.  President,  for  your  courteous,  im 
partial,  and  able  conduct  in  the  chair. 

"'Now,  Mr.  President,  I  believe  that  there  is  not 
recorded  in  history  any  Conference  at  which  so  many 
Powers  have  attended  as  that  which  has  been  under 
your  direction  for  the  space  of  nearly  three  months; 
and  I  am  certain  that  in  future  years  we  shall  all  of  us 
look  back  with  pride  and  satisfaction  to  the  fact  that 
our  proceedings  have  not  been  marred  by  a  single  un 
pleasant  feeling,  by  a  single  angry  thought  or  word.  I 
would  fain  like  to  say,  on  behalf  of  my  immediate 
colleagues,  the  delegates  for  Great  Britain,  that  we  have 
a  very  deep  sense  of  the  kindness  and  good  feeling 
which  we  have  received  from  all  of  our  brother-dele 
gates.  We  shall  go  away  from  here  feeling  that  we 
have  made  many,  many  good  friends,  and  with  the  firm 
belief  and  hope  that  we  have  not  made  a  single  enemy. 

" i  When  I  refer  to  the  good  feeling  and  harmony  which 
have  prevailed  throughout,  I  desire  to  state  that  it  is 
due  not  only  to  the  delegates  themselves,  but  it  is  due 
in  no  little  degree  to  the  calm,  judicial,  and  unbiassed 
manner  in  which  you  have  conducted  our  proceedings, 
Mr.  President.  Therefore,  it  is  with  very  great  pleasure 
and  very  great  pride  that  I  express,  however  imperfectly 
I  have  done  so,  our  gratification  and  thanks  to  you  for 
your  conduct  in  the  chair.  Mr.  President,  I  would  fain 
say  more,  but  there  are  occasions  when  words  will  not 
come  to  the  lips  of  the  speaker,  and  I  therefore  move 
formally  that  a  cordial  vote  of  thanks  be  tendered  by 


REPLY    TO    VOTE    OF    THANKS 

the  Conference  to  its  President,  Bear-Admiral  Samuel 
R.  Franklin,  for  his  courteous,  impartial,  and  able  conduct 
in  the  chair.' 

"  The  President.  i  I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  the 
kind  words  which  have  just  fallen  from  the  learned  first 
delegate  for  Great  Britain.  Any  language  which  I 
can  command  would  inadequately  express  the  feelings 
which  I  have  upon  this  occasion.  If  I  have  administered 
the  duties  of  my  office  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  delegates 
present,  it  is  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  the  kind  cour 
tesy  which  they  have  always  displayed  towards  me,  and 
to  the  courtesy  which  they  have  at  all  times  extended 
to  each  other,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  most  heated 
debates.  You  have  done  your  duty,  gentlemen,  with 
great  ability,  and  with  industry  such  as  is  rarely  wit 
nessed  in  a  Conference  of  this  kind.  YTou  have  worked 
untiringly  and  unceasingly,  day  and  night.  Now  the 
results  of  your  labors  will  come  before  the  world,  and  I 
trust  they  will  be  found  most  satisfactory,  as  I  hope  and 
believe  they  will.  In  wishing  you  good-bye  and  a  Happy 
New  Yrear,  I  trust  that  you  will  find  the  Atlantic  smooth 
for  your  passage  across,  and  that  you  will  be  received  at 
home  by  your  Governments  with  the  credit  which  you 
all  so  well  deserve.' 

"  The  motion  of  the  delegate  from  Great  Britain  ten 
dering  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  President  of  the  Confer 
ence  was  put  to  the  Conference,  after  having  been  sec 
onded,  by  Admiral  Kaznakoff  (Eussia),  and  unanimously 
adopted." 

The  American  delegates  remained  in  session  a  month 
or  two  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Conference,  and 
then  dispersed.  The  history  of  what  occurred  after 
wards  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss ;  any  one  interested 

397 


MEMORIES    OF    A    RE  AR- ADMIRAL 

can  find  it  in  the  archives  of  the  Department  of  State 
and  the  Treasury  Department.  I  will  state,  however, 
that  it  was  thought  expedient  to  pass  an  Act  of  Congress 
which  provided  for  calling  together  the  American  del 
egates  as  a  sort  of  advisory  board,  for  the  purpose  of 
reconciling  differences  which  had  arisen  between  the 
nations  interested  in  the  recommendations  of  the  Marine 
Conference.  However,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  the 
President's  proclamation  with  reference  to  the  "Kules 
of  the  Road,"  after  many  delays,  went  into  operation  on 
July  1,  1897. 

Upon  the  supposition  that  the  American  delegates 
might  yet  be  called  upon  in  reference  to  certain  maritime 
matters,  it  has  not  been  thought  fit  to  adjourn  that  body 
sine  die,  so  that  after  having  been  ten  years  on  the 
retired  list  as  a  Rear -Admiral  I  still  find  myself  in 
harness. 


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